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FROM  THE  LIBRARY  OF 
REV.   LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON,  D.  D. 

BEQUEATHED   BY  HIM  TO 

THE   LIBRARY  OF 

PRINCETON  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


//3/3>£ 


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Sectltti 


TWO 


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APR  22  1932  ^ 


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1)1  SCO  (i  RS  ES, 


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DELI  V  BR  ED   8  BPTBJM  BEE  20,   i  S39, 


•j.N    o<j<;asj<>\    'h 


THE    TWO    HUNDREDTH    ANNIVERSARY 

OP    Til  E    G  A  Til  ER1 

( 


FIRST    CONGREGATIONAL    CHURCH,    UULVJY 


A  N     A  I'  lJ  E  N  I)  I  X 


// 


IJy    WILLIAM     P.     LI/NT 


B  OS  TO  N: 
JAMES    MUNROE    AND    COMPANY 

M  DCCC  x/,. 


CAM  BRIDGE  PRESS! 
:jitmalf,  torry,  and  ballod. 


({uincy,  Oct.  11,  1839. 
To  the  Rev.  Wm.  P.  Lunt, 
Dear  Sir, 
We  have  the  honor  (as  a  Committee  appointed  for  the  purpose)  to  present 
to  you  attested  copies  of  votes  this  day  passed  by  the  First  Congregational 
Society  in  this  town,  expressing  the  thanks  of  the  Society  for  the  Discourses 
delivered  by  you  on  the  29th  of  September  last,  and  authorizing  a  request 
to  be  made  to  you  for  copies  thereof  for  publication. 

We  take  pleasure,  Sir,  in  pursuance  of  those  votes,  respectfully  to  re- 
quest you  to  furnish  copies  for  that  purpose. 

We  are,  Sir,  with  respect  and  in  Christian  fellowship, 
Your  friends  and  servants, 
Samuel  Savil,  William  Spear,  James  Newcomb, 
Josiah  Brigham,  Lewis  Bass. 


Quincy,  Oct.  11,  1839. 

At  a  regular  meeting  of  the  First  Congregational  Society  in  Quincy,  this 
day  holden  at  the  Town  Hall  pursuant  to  warrant,  — the  Hon.  Thomas 
Greenleaf  Moderator,  —  the  following  vote  was  unanimously  sustained,  — 
viz. : 

Voted,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Society  be  presented  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lunt 
for  the  very  interesting  and  eloquent  Sermons,  delivered  by  him  on  Sunday, 
the  twenty-ninth  day  of  September  last,  on  the  interesting  occasion  of  the 
Two  Hundredth  Anniversary  of  the  gathering  of  the  First  Church  in  this 
town,  and  that  he  be  respectfully  requested  to  furnish  a  copy  for  the  press. 

Voted,  That  the  Parish  Committee  and  the  present  officiating  Deacons  of 
the  church  be  a  Committee  to  communicate  the  same  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lunt. 

A  true  copy  of  record. 

Attest, 

Ibrahim  Bartlett,    P(msh  Clerk. 


To   Deacons    Samuel  Savil,    William    Spear,    James   Newcomb,   and 
Messrs.  Josiah  Brigham,  and  Lewis  Bass. 

Gentlemen, 

I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  11th  inst,  accompanied  with  the  votes 
passed  at  a  meeting,  held  on  that  day,  of  the  First  Congregational  Society 
in  this  town,  requesting  a  copy,  for  the  press,  of  the  two  Discourses  deliv- 
ered by  me,  on  the  29th  day  of  September  last,  on  occasion  of  the  Two 
Hundredth  Anniversary  of  the  gathering  of  our  Church. 

I  feel  grateful  to  the  Society  for  their  kind  reception  of  my  humble 
endeavor  to  do  justice  to  that  occasion,  which  was  so  interesting  to  us  all 
as  a  religious  community. 

I  will  cheerfully  furnish  a  copy  of  the  Discourses,  so  soon  as  I  can  pre- 
pare the  manuscript  for  the  printer. 

I  am,  Gentlemen,  with  Christian  regard, 
Your  fiiend  and  minister, 

Wm.  P.  Lunt. 

quincy,  Oct.  18,  1839. 


MY    PARISHIONERS, 


FOR   WHOM   THEY    WERE    PREPARED, 
AND  AT  WHOSE  REQUEST  THEY  ARE   NOW  PUBLISHED, 

THESE    DISCOURSES 


^ttecUonatelg   Enscrfbetr 


1685. 


DISCOURSE   I 


Deut.  viii.  11,  12,  14,  17,  18. 

Beware  that  thou  forget  not  the  Lord  thy  God,  in  not  keeping 
his  commandments,  and  his  judgments,  and  his  statutes,  which  i 
command  thee  this  day  : 

Lest  when  thou  hast  eaten  and  art  full,  hast  built  goodly 
houses,  and  dwelt  therein  ; 

Then  thine  heart  be  lifted  up,  and  thou  forget  the  Lord  thy 
God  :  — 

And  thou  say  in  thine  heart,  My  power  and  the  might  of  my 
hand  hath  gotten  me  this  wealth. 

But  thou  shalt  remember  the  Lord  thy  God. 

Brethren  and  Fathers, 
Our  church  this  dayt  keeps  a  high  and  solemn  festi- 
val. Two  hundred  years  have  elapsed  since  eight 
individuals,  including  the  pastor  and  teacher,  signed 
the  original  covenant,!  by  which  they  entered  into 
"  church-state,"  and  became  an  independent  ecclesi- 
astical body  in  this  place.  From  so  small  a  beginning 
have  we  grown  to  our  present  numbers  and  prosperity. 

#  See  Appendix  T.  f  See  Appendix  A.  J:  See  Appendix  B. 


8 

Dark  indeed  were  the  prospects  of  our  pious  fathers, 
in  this  and  in  all  the  other  plantations  of  the  Colony. 
A  wilderness  to  subdue  ;  a  bleak  climate  to  endure  ; 
savage  enemies  to  watch  and  resist ;  disguised  foes  of 
their  own  nation  following  their  steps,   and  misrepre- 
senting their  acts  and  motives  to  the  tyrants,   civil  and 
spiritual,    whom  they   had  fled   from  ;    the  venerable 
cathedrals  and    churches   of  England   exchanged  for 
poor  meeting-houses  with  walls  of  mud  and  roofs  of 
thatch  ;  all  the  comforts  which  their  homes  had  afforded, 
all  the  tender  attachments  which  held  them  to  their 
fathers'  roofs   and  graves,  and    above  all,  the    moral 
associations  which  had  grown  up  in  their  souls,  in  con- 
nexion with  the  localities,  the  scenes,  the  institutions 
and  customs  of  their  place  of  birth,  and  which  consti- 
tuted their  inner,  spiritual  life  ;  —  all  to  be  forgone,  and 
in  their  stead  to  be  substituted  pinching  want,  wasting 
sickness,  a  strange  land,  as  yet  unconsecrated  to  their 
affections  by  sweet  memories  or  solemn  suggestions. 
Such  were  some  of  the  discouraging,  appalling  circum- 
stances that  met  and  surrounded   our    Pilgrim    fore- 
fathers,*    And  the  question  naturally  rises  in  the  mind, 
and  with  this  question  all  the  instruction,  and  interest 
of  the  present  occasion  are  connected,  what  principle 
was  strong  enough  to  nerve  their  spirits,  and  to  sustain 
their  spirits,  in  the  arduous  work,  the  almost  hopeless 
enterprise,    which   they  had  undertaken?      The   true 
answer  to  this  question  will  be  furnished  in  the  sketch 
I   am   to  offer   you,  this  day,   of  the   history  of  our 
church. 

*  Many  only  reached  this  Western  world  to  die  here:  or,  as  Cotton 
Mather  expresses  it,  and  for  so  sweet  a  sentence  one  can  forgive  much  ab- 
surdity in  that  singular  writer,  "  Many  took  New-England  in  their  way  to 
Heaven." 


There  lay  in  the  capacious  minds  of  our  fathers  a 
great  and  noble  design, — to  rear  a  Christian  common- 
wealth in  "  these  ends  of  the  earth."  Great  designs 
always  impart  strength  to  the  mind  that  entertains  them. 
But  besides  the  conception  of  a  noble  purpose,  which 
is  like  a  grand  picture  before  the  imagination,  those 
who  are  wise  as  well  as  enterprising  settle  beforehand 
the  chances  of  success  ;  and  their  courage  and  perse- 
verance grow  out  of  the  likelihood  of  a  favorable 
issue.  But  what  strengthened  our  fathers,  and  encour- 
aged them  to  proceed  with  the  attempt  to  realize  their 
sublime  conception  of  a  Christian  commonwealth  in 
the  wilderness  ?  Were  there  any  rational  grounds  upon 
which  they  might  raise  a  calculation  of  success  ? 
Certainly  none.  Had  they  stopped  to  make  calcula- 
tions, there  would  have  been  no  New-England.  The 
conception  of  a  Christian  commonwealth  might  have 
existed,  across  the  Atlantic,  in  the  minds  of  a  few  mu- 
sing men,  and  would  have  died  with  them,  never  being 
realized  in  history.  The  question,  therefore,  recurs 
again ;  What  supported  our  ancestors  ?  For  history 
informs  us  that  their  conception  became  reality ;  and 
the  institutions  that  surround  us,  the  life,  social,  civil, 
and  religious,  which  we  live  from  day  to  day,  are  so 
many  evidences  and  monuments  of  the  great  reality. 
What  supported  them  ?  The  answer  is,  religious  be- 
lief; trust  in  God.  This  was  the  principle  upon  which 
their  enterprise  was  based.  The  sentiment  that  sus- 
tained them  is  beautifully  expressed  in  the  words  of  the 
Anthem  with  which  the  solemnities  of  this  occasion 
commenced ; 

"  Watchman !  tell  us  of  the  night ; 
What  its  signs  of  promise  are. 

2 


10 

Traveller !  o'er  yon  mountain's  height 
See  that  glory-beaming  star ! 

"  Watchman !  does  its  beauteous  ray 

Aught  of  hope  or  joy  foretell  ? 
Traveller !  yes ;  it  brings  the  day, 

Promised  day  of  Israel. 

"  Watchman  !  will  its  beams  alone 
Gild  the  spot  that  gave  them  birth  ? 

Traveller !  ages  are  its  own  ; 
See  !  it  bursts  o'er  all  the  earth." 

There  are  two  interesting  thoughts  which  occur  to 
the  mind,  as  we  enter  upon  our  subject.  One  of  these 
is,  that  there  is  not  a  region  on  the  face  of  the  earth, 
that  has  not  a  religious  history.  That  history  may  not, 
perhaps,  be  written.  But  there  is  no  place  that  does 
not  furnish  materials  for  such  a  history,  and  few,  if  any, 
parts  of  the  globe  that  do  not  present  some  monu- 
ments, to  testify,  more  significantly  and  impressively 
than  written  signs  or  uttered  syllables  can  ever  do,  to 
the  religious  thoughts,  and  affections,  and  hopes,-  and 
fears,  that  formerly  inhabited  the  minds,  and  moved  the 
souls  of  human  believers  and  worshippers.  Nor  is  this 
thought  justly  entertained,  and  fully  understood,  when 
we  compress  it  into  the  proposition  that  the  religious 
principle  is  universal.  The  important  truth  we  are 
considering  makes  a  livelier  impression  upon  the  mind, 
when  we  divide  it  into  particulars,  and  reflect  that  there 
is,  almost  literally  speaking,  not  a  spot  on  the  globe, 
be  it  mountain  or  plain,  desert  or  cultivated  region, 
rock  or  river  or  forest,  that  has  not,  in  one  period  or 
another  of  the  world's  history,  been  set  apart  and  held 
in  peculiar  sanctity,  as  a  place  of  prayer  or  of  devout 
meditation,  by  some  family,  tribe,  or  people,  among  the 
unnumbered  generations  that  have,  in  past  ages,  pos- 


11 

sessed  the  earth.  And  thus  the  race,  as  a  whole,  have 
accomplished  what  individuals  could  not,  —  have  made 
the  "  great  globe  which  we  inhabit "  an  altar  to  the 
God  who  made  it,  and  have  realized,  in  their  united 
experience,  the  momentous  truth,  which  every  individ- 
ual is  taught  in  the  abstract,  as  an  essential  doctrine  of 
religion,  but  which  the  whole  species  alone  can  verify, 
—  that  the  invisible  object  of  human  adoration  is  every- 
where present. 

Another  thought  naturally  suggested,  as  we  enter 
upon  our  subject,  and  which  is  kindred  to  the  one  just 
presented,  is  this  ; —  that  Religion  has  been  the  source 
and  motive  of  the  greatest  enterprises  man  has  ever 
achieved ;  and  the  origin  of  the  most  permanent  mon- 
uments that  human  genius  has  been  able  to  construct. 
Religion,  we  have  reason  to  believe,  built  the  Pyramids, 
those  gigantic  specimens  of  ancient  art.  And  the  tem- 
ples, the  fragments  of  whose  beauty  are  strewed  over 
the  plains  and  hills  of  Egypt,  Greece,  and  Rome,  bear 
testimony  to  the  depth  of  the  sentiment  which  they 
were  reared  to  express.  It  was  the  religious  sentiment, 
stimulating  the  imagination  of  an  Angelo  and  a  Ra- 
phael, that  produced  the  master-work  of  modern  archi- 
tecture, the  church  of  St.  Peter  ;  and  gave  rise  to  those 
conceptions  of  awful  majesty  and  divine  loveliness, 
which  were  expanded  and  embodied  in  the  painter's 
representation  of  the  Last  Judgment,  and  of  the  Ma- 
donna. It  was  religion  which  inspired  the  muse  of  the 
Puritan  Milton,  and  called  into  immortal  being  the 
noblest  creation  in  literature,  the  Paradise  Lost. 

Or,  to  select  a  few  from  among  the  greatest  enter- 
prises achieved  by  mortals.  It  was  religion  which 
prompted  and  effected  the  Exodus  of  the  Israelites  out 


12 

of  Egypt,  kept  them  together  until  they  were  settled  in 
the  Promised  Land,  and  their  institutions  were  cement- 
ed into  that  ancient  and  venerable  civilization,  whose 
central  principle,  conspicuous  amidst  surrounding  dark- 
ness and  prevailing  idolatries,  was  the  belief  and  wor- 
ship of  one  invisible  Jehovah.  Or  to  descend  from  this 
instance,  in  which  the  sentiment  was,  as  we  believe, 
strengthened  by  miraculous  occurrences.  The  Cru- 
sades, the  discovery  of  America  by  Columbus,  andjthe 
planting  of  permanent  settlements  on  these  shores, 
were  all  results  of  religion,  and  are  all  illustrations  of 
this  crowning  sentiment  in  the  human  soul. 

Nor  was  the  American  continent  an  exception  to  the 
remarks  that  have  been  made,  respecting  the  universali- 
ty of  the  religious  sentiment.  Before  our  pious  ances- 
tors brought  out  from  Christian  England  to  these 
shores  the  religion  of  the  Bible,  there  was  a  faith  and 
a  worship,  imperfect  and  unenlightened,  it  is  true,  living 
in  the  breasts  of  the  savages  that  roamed  through 
the  forests  of  the  West.  And  the  red  men  who  owned 
the  authority  of  the  Sachem  of  Naponset,*  in  these 
Massachusetts  fields,  had  some  ideas,  although  faint, 
when  compared  with  those  which  our  divine  religion 
unfolds,  on  spiritual  subjects ;  some  elevating  notions  of 
what  is  "  unseen  and  eternal ;"  some  forms  of  worship  to 
give  expression  to  religious  sentiments  ;  and  some  code 
of  moral  maxims  and  rules,  based  upon  spiritual  sanc- 
tions, and  extending  to  the  actions  of  daily  life. 

*  "  The  tradition  is  —  that  this  Sachem  (Chickatabut)  had  his  principal 
seat  upon  a  small  hill  or  rising  upland,  in  the  midst  of  a  body  of  saltmarsh, 
in  the  township  of  Dorchester  (now  Quincy)  near  to  a  place  called  Squantum ; 
and  it  is  known  by  the  name  of  Massachusetts  Hill,  or  Mount  Massachusetts, 
to  this  day."     See  Hutchinson's  Mass.,  Vol.  I.  p.  408.  :;;,;..; 


13 

It  may  be  well,  as  a  farther  introduction  of  our  sub- 
ject, to  advert  to  the  chief  causes  that  induced  our 
fathers  to  forsake  their  native  land,  and  to  seek  a 
retreat  in  these  distant  regions. 

The  same  causes,  that  moved  Luther  in  Germany  to 
undertake  the  great  work  of  Reformation,  soon  became 
active  in  England,  the  land  of  our  ancestors.    The  cor- 
ruptions of  Popery  had  long  before  been  manifest  to 
the  minds  of  individuals,  who  had  given  expression  to 
their  indignant  convictions,  but  had  died  without  seeing 
the  hope  of  their  souls  fulfilled.      At  length  political 
causes  conspired  with  religious  convictions,  and  in  the 
reign  of  Henry  V11L  the  ball  of  Reformation  was  set 
in  motion  in  England.    Under  Edward  the  cause  made 
considerable  and  cheering  progress,  and  the  hopes  of 
many  were  elated  with  glorious  prospects  of  success^ 
which  were  checked  and  turned  into  sadness  and  tears, 
when  the  intolerant  Mary  succeeded  to  the  throne.     To 
avoid  the  certain  fate  which  awaited  them   at  home, 
multitudes  of  conscientious  and  pious  Protestants  went 
into  exile,  and  established  churches,  where  they  could 
worship  in  freedom,  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  par- 
ticularly in  Holland  and  Germany.  Elizabeth  succeeded 
to  the  cruel  Mary,  and  the  exiled  pastors,  with  their 
devoted  flocks,  returned  into  England,  with  high  but 
delusive  expectations  of  what  they  would  enjoy  under 
her  reign.      Elizabeth  discountenanced  Popery,  it   is 
true  ;  but  she  was  tenacious  of  her  own  church,  whose 
ceremonies  and  ritual,  the  relics  of  the  old  hierarchy, 
she  was  determined  should  be  held  in  respect.     In  this 
state    of  things,  the  sect    of  the  Puritans,  to   which 
our  fathers  belonged,  whose  leading  principle  was  thor- 
ough reform,    both  in  the  doctrines    and  in  the  ob- 


14 

servances  of  the  church,  and  the  materials  of  which 
sect  had  been  accumulating  for  a  long  time,  became 
consolidated.  The  opposition  of  the  Puritans  had 
been  at  first  aimed  against  the  ceremonies,  which,  to 
their  minds,  savored  too  much  of  the  old  church.  The 
"  canonical  habits  "  were  made  by  the  Queen  essential 
to  the  exercise  of  the  ministerial  functions,  and  oppo- 
sition to  these  became  henceforth  a  virtue,  and  was  the 
rallying-point  of  the  Puritans.  This  led  to  meetings 
for  worship  in  private  houses,  a  circumstance  which 
exposed  them  to  the  jealousy  and  persecutions  of  the 
government.  As  their  sufferings  increased,  their  attach- 
ment to  their  principles  was  strengthened,  and  they 
soon  began  to  question  the  doctrines  also  of  the  Eng- 
lish Church.  During  Elizabeth's  reign  a  fourth  part, 
at  least,  of  the  preachers  in  England  were  suspended. 
In  1583,  she  established  the  Court  of  High  Com- 
mission, and  conferred  upon  this  court  the  dangerous 
power  to  punish  at  their  discretion.  James  I.  suc- 
ceeded to  the  throne  in  1603,  and  the  severities  against 
the  Puritans  were  continued.  By  1604  three  hundred 
of  the  clergy  were  either  silenced,  or  excommunicated, 
or  cast  into  prison,  or  forced  to  leave  their  country. 
Holland,  the  land  of  Grotius  and  Arminius,  must  ever 
be  held  in  honor  by  us,  for  furnishing  a  safe  temporary 
asylum  to  our  exiled  fathers.  Thither  John  Robinson, 
with  his  church,  went  in  1608,  and  there  they  lived  to- 
gether, until,  in  1620,  they  removed,  with  the  hope  that 
their  pastor  would  soon  follow,  and  began  the  first 
settlement  in  New  England  at  Plymouth.  Under 
Charles  1.  the  tyrannical  measures  were  continued, 
and  the  abhorrence  entertained  by  the  Puritans  for 
bishops,  and  whatever  belonged  to  the  hierarchy,  be- 


15 

came  deeper  and  deeper.  Part  of  this  antagonist 
feeling  expended  itself  in  colonizing  America,  and  the 
remainder  was  left  to  grow  at  home,  until  at  length  it 
burst  out  in  a  civil  war,  and  from  a  monarchy  changed 
the  English  government  into  a  commonwealth  under 
Cromwell. 

Governor  Winthrop's  company  came  over  in  1630. 
It  seems  to  have  been  their  original  intention*  to  have 
settled,  with  the  fifteen  hundred  persons  composing 
their  colony,  in  some  one  place,  and  to  have  given  it 
the  name  of  Boston.  But  several  circumstances,  after 
their  arrival,  prevented  this  design  being  effected. 
Necessity,  arising  from  sickness,  exhaustion,  and  the 
wish  to  be  settled  before  the  coming  on  of  winter,  in- 
fluenced them  to  disperse  about  in  separate  companies, 
and  to  commence  distinct  plantations,  in  places  that 
appeared  most  convenient  and  promising.  Hence 
the  origin  of  the  system  of  towns  in  New  England,  a 
system  which  has  done  much  to  favor  the  democratic 
element,  which  enters  so  largely  into  all  our  institutions. 
Hence  arose  Charlestown,  Dorchester,  Boston,  and  in 
course  of  time  Braintree. 

In  order  to  assist  the  mind  to  embrace,  in  one  con- 
nected view,  the  numerous  events,  which  extend  over 
a  space  of  two  hundred  years,  it  may  not  be  amiss  here 
to  make  a  division  into  periods,  marked  and  deter- 
mined by  the  most  important  and  interesting  occurren- 
ces that  have  taken  place  in  the  history  of  this  place. 

It  is  familiarly  known,  that  as  early  as  1625  a  com- 
pany, of  which  one  Captain  Wollaston  was  the  head, 
came  here,  with  the  intention  of  making  a  permanent 

*  See  Gov.  Dudley's  Letter  to  the  Countess  of  Lincoln, 


16 

settlement.  And  from  him  the  place  received  the  name 
of  Mount  Wollaston,  which  it  bore  for  a  space  of  fifteen 
years,  until  in  1640,  May  13,  (old  style,)  the  place 
became  a  distinct  town,  by  the  name  of  Braintree.  So 
early  as  1625  only  one  permanent  settlement,  that  at 
Plymouth,  had  been  made  in  New  England.  An 
attempt  to  make  one  a  little  to  the  south  of  us,  at 
Wessagussett,  (now  Weymouth,)  had  failed,  and  the 
members  of  that  company  had  been  scattered.  Wol- 
laston, after  remaining  here  but  a  short  time,  removed 
south  to  Virginia,  leaving,  however,  the  greater  part  of 
his  company,  some  of  whom  may  have  continued  here, 
and  mingled  with  the  subsequent  settlers ;  on  which 
supposition  is  founded  the  claim  which  has  been  made 
for  this  place,  as  the  oldest*  permanent  settlement  in 
the  Massachusetts  colony.  As  the  purposes  of  Wollas- 
ton were  mercantile  and  not  religious,  and  especially 
as  those  he  left  behind  fell  into  great  dissoluteness,  and 
gave  much  annoyance,  and  caused  great  scandal  to 
their  peaceful  and  pious  neighbors,  until  decisive  meas- 
ures were  taken  to  punish  their  instigator,  one  Morton, 
it  will  not  be  to  my  present  purpose,  which  is  to  give 
a  sketch  of  the  religious  history  of  the  place,  to  bestow 
further  attention  upon  them. 

The  earliest  incident,  of  an  ecclesiastical  character, 
connected  with  this  place,  is  the  circumstance  men- 
tioned by  Governor  Winthrop  in  his  Journal,  under  date 
of  Aug.  14,  1632,  namely,  "  The  Braintree  company 
(which  had  begun  to  sit  down  at  Mount  Wollaston)  by 
order  of  court  removed  to  Newtown.  These  were  Mr. 
Hooker's  company."  To  them  is  to  be  traced  the  namef 

*  See  Appendix  C.  t  See  Appendix  C. 


17 

given  to  this  town,  when  it  was  incorporated.  This 
company  had  been  but  a  short  time  in  the  country, 
and  their  continuance  at  Mount  Wollaston  was  very 
brief.  Cotton  Mather,  in  his  account  of  Rev.  Thomas 
Hooker,  remarks  that  his  friends  "  came  over  the  year 
before  (he  came)  to  prepare  for  his  reception."  And 
we  learn  from  Winthrop's  Journal,*  that  Mr.  Hooker 
arrived,  September  4,  1633.  They  remained,  therefore, 
at  Mount  Wollaston,  before  their  removal  to  Newtown, 
at  most  but  a  few  months.  With  the  exception  of  the 
single  incident  just  mentioned,  nothing  of  an  ecclesi- 
astical character  is  known  in  the  history  of  this  place 
previous  to  1634,  so  that  the  first  period  of  our  church 
history  may  be  reckoned  from  1634,  when  by  order  of 
the  General  Court  Mount  Wollaston  was  annexed  to 
Boston,  to  1639,  the  year  when  a  distinct  church  was 
gathered  here. 

The  second  period  may  extend  from  1639,  Sept.  17, 
O.  S.,  the  date  of  the  gathering  of  this  church,  to  1708, 
Nov.  3,  when  the  town  of  Braintree  was,  by  a  vote, 
confirmed  by  the  General  Court  two  days  after,  divided 
into  two  separate  precincts  ;  the  north  precinct  com- 
prising what  is  now  Quincy,  and  the  south  including 
what  is  now  Braintree  and  Randolph. 

The  third  period  may  extend  from  1708  to  1792, 
when  the  north  precinct  of  the  old  town  of  Braintree 
was  set  off  and  became  an  independent  town,  by  the 
name  of  Quincy. 

The  next  period  may  extend  from  1792  to  1824, 
when  the  town  and  parochial  concerns  were  finally 
separated,  and  the  parish  of  the  Congregational  Society 
in  Quincy  was  organized. 

*  Vol.  I.  p.  108. 

3 


18 

With  regard  to  the  first  of  the  periods  just  named,  we 
must  have  recourse  for  information  to  the  records  of  the 
First  Church,  Boston,  and  to  books  that  treat  of  the 
general  history  of  the  colony  at  that  early  time. 

In  the  second  period,  comprising  nearly  seventy 
years,  the  affairs  of  the  church  were  blended  with  town 
affairs,  and  scanty  notices  of  church  matters  are  accord- 
ingly found  in  the  Braintree  town  records,  the  earliest 
date  in  which  records  is  10th  day  of  5th  month  1640, 
which  was  only  about  two  months  after  the  town 
was  incorporated. 

From  1708  to  1792,  that  is,  for  a  period  of  eighty- 
four  years,  this  was  a  separate  precinct,  having  a  pre- 
cinct clerk ;  and  two  books,  comprising  the  whole 
period,  are  preserved  in  good  condition,  which  contain 
quite  particular  information  respecting  the  affairs  of  the 
society,  during  the  ministries  of  Mr.  Marsh,  Mr.  Han- 
cock, Mr.  Briant,  and  part  of  the  ministry  of  Mr. 
Wibird. 

From  1792  to  1824,  parish  and  town  affairs  were 
once  more  blended,  and  the  records  of  the  town  must  be 
consulted  to  gain  what  information  is  desired. 

The  church  records  consist  of  two  books ;  but  the 
oldest  goes  back  no  farther  than  to  the  commencement 
of  Mr.  Fiske's  pastorate  in  1672.  Nothing  is  now  left 
in  the  hand-writing  of  either  Tompson  or  Flynt,  the 
first  pastor  and  teacher,  although  Mr.  Hancock,  in 
one  of  his  century  sermons,  refers  to  a  record,  which 
he  possessed,  in  the  hand-writing  of  Mr.  Flynt. 

To  begin  with  the  first  period.  From  1634,  Sept. 
3,  when  Mount  Wollaston  was  ordered  by  the  General 
Court  to  be  annexed  to  Boston,  until  1636,  those  per- 
sons to  whom  grants  of  land  in  this  place  had,  from 


19 

time  to  time,  been  made,  were  obliged  to  go  to  worship 
on  the  Sabbath  at  Boston.     This  was  found  to  be  very 
inconvenient,    and   accordingly  the   residents   at     the 
Mount,  among  whom  "were  many  poor  men  having 
lots  assigned  them  there,  and  not   able  to  use  those 
lands  and  dwell  still  in  Boston,   petitioned  the  town, 
first,  to  have  a  minister  there,  and  after,  to  have  leave 
to  gather  a  church  there."  *     This  request  was  reluc- 
tantly granted ;  and  the  reason  assigned  for  the  reluc- 
tance was,  that  so  many  chief  men  would  be  removed 
from  Boston  to  the  injury  of  the  church  there.     The 
matter  was,  however,  finally  compounded,  by  taxing  the 
lands  held  here  a  certain  rate,  to  be  paid  into  the  treas- 
ury of  the  town  of  Boston.     The  first  petition  of  the 
residents  at  the  Mount,  that  they  might  have  a  separate 
minister,  was  granted  as  early  as  1636.     The  vote  of 
Boston  first  church,  granting  permission  to  Mr.  Wheel- 
wright to  preach  at  Mount  Wollaston,  seems  to  have 
been  the  result  at  which  they  arrived,  after  several  meet- 
ings, and  much  discussion  as  to  whether  Mr.  Wheelwright 
should  be  associated  in  the  ministry  with  Wilson  and 
Cotton,  over  the  first  church.     This  appears  to  have 
been  the  wish  of  some.     Mr.  Cotton,  however,  raised 
some   objections   to  the  proposal;    and  Mr.  Cotton's 
objections  were  not  likely  to  be  resisted  ;   so  the  matter 
was  compounded  again,  by  permitting  Mr.  Wheelwrightf 
to  minister  at  the  Mount. 

In  a  book,J  entitled  "  Plaine  Dealing  or  Newes  from 
New  England,"  written  by  one  Lechford,  and  printed 
in  1642,  the  author,  who  wrote  with  a  view  to  check 
the  current  that  was  setting  against  Episcopacy,  and  in 

*  See  Winthrop's  N.  E.      t  See  Appendix  D.      \  See  Mass.  Hist.  Coll. 


20 

favor  of  the  Puritans,  speaks  of  the  meetings  for  wor- 
ship at  Mount  Wollaston  and  other  places  similarly  sit- 
uated, under  the  name  of  "  chapels  of  ease."  This  high 
sounding  Episcopal  appellation  would,  most  likely, 
have  excited  in  the  minds  of  our  Puritan  fathers  a 
feeling  exactly  opposite  to  what  it  occasions  in  us. 
To  use  a  more  simple  phrase,  this  was  a  branch  of 
the  Boston  first  church  ;  and  according  to  the  writer 
just  quoted,  before  an  independent  church  was  gathered 
in  this  place,  "  they  of  the  Mount  "  came  and  received 
the  sacrament  at  Boston  ;  "  and  (he  further  adds)  some 
of  Braintree  still  receive  at  Boston." 

And  here  a  word  may  be  said  of  the  ministers  (or 
elders,  as  ministers  were  called  in  early  times)  of  the 
Boston  church.     The  Pastor  was  the  excellent  John 
Wilson,  one  of  the  earliest  Pilgrims.     He  came  out  to 
this  country  with    Gov.  Winthrop's  company  in  1630, 
and  was  elected  and  ordained  pastor  of  the  first  church 
soon  after  their  arrival.     He  survived  two  that  were 
successively  associated  with  him  in  the  ministry,  and 
died  in  the  year   1667,  at  the  age  of  78  years.     He 
seems  to  have  been  universally  beloved  and  venerated 
in  the  colony.    We  have  an  interest  in  him,  not  merely 
as  the  first  pastor  of  this  church,  when  it  was,  if  not 
a  "chapel    of  ease,"  yet   a    branch  of  Boston  first 
church  ;  but  he  had  a  large  grant  of  land  in  the  north 
part  of  this  town  early  made  to  him  by  the  town  of 
Boston,  for  a  convenient  farm.     Associated  with  Mr. 
Wilson,  as  teacher  of  the  first  church,  was  the  famous 
John  Cotton,   a  distinguished  Puritan  preacher  from 
Boston  in  England.     He  was  a  great  light  in  early 
times.     His  opinions  were  looked  upon  as  law,  and  he 
is  spoken  of  by  the  historians  of  the  period,  as  doing 


21 

more  than  any  other  individual  to  fix  the  principles  of 
Congregationalism,  and  to  mould  into  the  form,  which 
they  have  in  the  main  preserved  to  this  day,  our  eccle- 
siastical institutions  and  observances. 

Mr.  Wheelwright  ministered  at  the  Mount  until  1637, 
Nov.  1,  when  he  was  disfranchised,  and*  banished  from 
the  Massachusetts  jurisdiction,  on  account  of  a  sermon 
preached  by  him,  which  was  judged  to  be  seditious  in 
its  character.  This  sermon  grew  out  of  the  Antino- 
mian  controversy,  as  it  was  called,  which  raged  at  that 
period  in  Boston,  and,  strange  as  it  may  seem  to  us, 
which  threw  the  whole  community,  political  as  well  as 
religious,  into  a  ferment.  This  theological  controversy 
was  commenced  by  Mrs.  Hutchinson,*  a  woman  of  great 
talent,  who  established  meetings  in  her  own  house,  at 
which  the  sermons  of  the  preceding  Sabbath  were 
freely  criticised,  and  theological  matters  generally  were 
discussed.  Mr.  Wheelwright  was  brother-in-law  to  this 
lady,  and  became  a  powerful  advocate  of  her  views. 
The  result  of  the  opinions  which  they  advanced  was, 
that  the  whole  community  was  divided  between  those 
who,  in  theological  phrase,  were  said  to  be  under  a 
covenant  of  works,  and  those  who  were  under  a  cov- 
enant of  grace.  On  the  one  side  Mrs.  Hutchinson  and 
her  friends  charged  the  ministers  of  that  day,  with  few 
exceptions,  with  preaching  up  works,  duties,  outward 
morality,  to  the  neglect  of  that  free  grace,  which  is  set 
forth  in  the  Gospel  as  the  ground  of  human  salvation. 
The  charge  brought  by  the  other  party  against  the  new 
sect  was,  that  faith,  the  spiritual  frames  which  relig- 
ion requires  were  insisted  on,  as  men's  sole  reliance, 

*  See  Appendix  E. 


22 

while  the  duties  of  life  were  undervalued  and  repre- 
sented as  having  no  connexion  with  salvation ;  thus  a 
way  being  opened  for  all  sorts  of  licentiousness.  Upon 
this  ground  the  name  was  given  to  the  new  sect,  of 
Antinomians,  that  is,  enemies  to  the  moral  law. 

It  is  not  my- intention  to  go  into  a  minute  examina- 
tion of  the  opinions  held  by  those  who  were  styled 
Antinomians.  But  as  two  of  the  principal  members  of 
Mrs.  Hutchinson's  party,  John  Wheelwright  and  William 
Coddington,*  had  estates  here  ;  one  of  them  being,  as 
we  have  seen,  the  first  preacher  at  the  Mount,  and  the 
other  an  honored  name  in  our  colonial  history,  and  in  the 
history  of  the  neighboring  colony  of  Rhode  Island, 
of  which  he  was  the  father,  after  he  had  been  driven 
away  from  Massachusetts  during  the  controversy  just 
spoken  of,  it  has  not  seemed  to  me  proper  to  pass  over 
the  subject,  although  the  difficulty  of  making  it  intelli- 
gible, by  reason  of  the  subtle  metaphysical  distinctions 
involved  in  it,  and  the  peculiar  technical  phraseology 
in  which  the  new  notions  were  conveyed,  is  somewhat 
embarrassing.  Perhaps,  therefore,  I  cannot  do  better 
than  to  state,  in  my  own  language,  the  ideas  I  have 
formed  respecting  this  controversy,  the  main  point 
upon  which  it  turned,  and  the  leading  principle  and 
aim  of  the  new  sect. 

The  name  Antinomians,  it  will  be  remembered, 
was  given  them  by  their  opponents.  They  rejected  it, 
as  well  as  the  inferences  drawn  by  the  other  party  from 
their  main  doctrine.  So  far  from  attaching  no  import- 
ance, as  the  name  implies,  to  good  works,  to  the  prac- 
tical parts  of  religion,  they  insisted  upon  their  impor- 

*  See  Appendix  F. 


23 

tance  most  earnestly  in  their  preaching  ;  —  whether  this 
was  consistent,  logically  considered,  with  their  assumed 
principles  or  not ;  —  and  as  for  the  lives  and  characters 
of  the  chief  advocates  of  the  new  doctrine,  it  is  suffi- 
cient to  remind  you  that  Wheelwright  was,  through  a 
long  life,  esteemed  and  respected  as  one  of  the  best 
of  men ;  Coddington's  name  is  revered  in  connexion 
with  the  history  of  a  neighboring  colony  and  state  ;  and 
Henry  Vane,*  once  governor  of  Massachusetts,  and  a 
cordial  friend  and  supporter  of  the  heresiarch  of  Mount 
Wollaston,  went  home  to  England;   bore  a  conspic- 
uous part  in  the  revolutionary  scenes  that  rocked  that 
kingdom  to  its  centre  :  was  the  steadfast  and  consistent 
advocate  of  freedom  and  the  rights  of  man  ;  and  finally 
gave  the  strongest  possible  practical  refutation  of  the 
charge  of  Antinomianism,  in  the  serene  fortitude  and 
Christian  magnanimity,  with  which  he  closed  a  virtuous 
life  upon  the  scaffold. 

This  subject  is  the  more  appropriate  to  the  present 
occasion,  because  the  sermon,  which  occasioned  Mr. 
Wheelwright's  banishment  from  the  Massachusetts 
colony,  was  preached,  as  I  suppose,  in  this  place.  It  was 
delivered  on  a  fast  day,  which  had  been  appointed  for 
January  20,  1636-7,  with  reference  to  the  dissensions 
that  had  sprung  out  of  the  new  tenets,  about  three 
months  after  Mr.  Wheelwright  had  received  permission 
from  the  first  church  to  come  out  and  preach  to  the 
people  at  the  Mount. 

The  text  of  this  sermon  is  taken  from  Matt.  ix.  \b. 
"  And  Jesus  said  unto  them,  can  the  children  of  the 
bridechamber   mourn,  as  long   as   the  bridegroom  is 

*  See  Appendix.  G. 


24 

with  them  ?  But  the  days  will  come  when  the 
bridegroom  shall  be  taken  from  them?  and  then 
shall  they  fast."  The  preacher  opens  the  subject, 
suggested  by  these  words,  with  asking,  what  is  the  true 
occasion  of  a  fast  ?  When  ought  Christians  to  fast  ? 
The  answer,  which  he  expands,  is  given  in  the  text  ; 
"  when  the  bridegroom  shall  be  taken  from  them  ; " 
when  Christ  is  removed.  This  leads  to  another 
question,  what  is  it  to  remove  Christ  ?  And  the  answer 
to  this  carries  him  and  his  reader  into  the  heart  of  his 
doctrine,  namely,  Christ  is  removed,  in  a  spiritual  sense, 
in  the  only  sense  in  which  he  can  be,  since  his  death, 
whenever  the  peculiar  doctrine  of  Christianity,  justi- 
fication by  grace,  by  faith,  is  taken  away,  and  a 
covenant  of  works,  a  mere  code  of  moral  rules  for 
regulating  the  behavior,  without  any  inward  exercise 
of  the  spiritual  principle,  is  substituted  instead.  That 
he  was  anxious  to  guard  the  doctrine  from  abuses  into 
which  those,  who  received  it  not  aright,  might  easily  be 
led,  appears  from  his  exhorting  his  hearers  thus  :  "  Let 
us  have  a  care  that  we  do  show  ourselves  holy  in  all 
manner  of  good  conversation,  both  in  private  and  pub- 
lic, and  in  all  our  carriages  and  conversations  ;  let  us 
have  a  care  to  endeavor  to  be  holy  as  the  Lord  is  ;  let 
us  not  give  occasion  to  those  that  are  coming  on,  or 
manifestly  opposite  to  the  ways  of  grace,  to  suspect  the 
way  of  grace  ;  let  us  carry  ourselves  that  they  may  be 
ashamed  to  blame  us  ;  let  us  deal  uprightly  with  those 
with  whom  we  have  occasion  to  deal ;  and  have  a 
care  to  guide  our  families,  and  to  perform  duties  that 
belong  to  us ;  and  let  us  have  a  care  that  we  give  not 
occasion  to  others  to  say  we  are  libertines  or  Antino- 


25 

This  certainly  does  not  look  like  enmity  to  virtue  or 
a  disposition  to  disparage  good  works.  In  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  discourse  the  preacher  applies  his  doctrine 
to  the  comfort  of  himself  and  his  hearers,  in  case  a 
certain  calamity  should  befal  them,  which  in  fact  did 
befal  them  eventually,  in  the  following  remarkable 
passage ;  "  Suppose  those  that  are  God's  children 
should  lose  their  houses,  and  lands,  and  wives,  and 
friends,  and  lose  the  acting  of  the  gift  of  grace,  and 
lose  the  ordinances,  yet  they  can  never  lose  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ ;  this  is  a  great  comfort  to  God's  people. 
Suppose  the  saints  of  God  should  be  banished,  deprived 
of  all  the  ordinances  of  God,  that  were  a  hard  case,  in 
some  respects ;  but  if  the  ordinances  be  taken  away, 
Christ  cannot ;  for  if  John  be  banished  into  an  island, 
the  spirit  comes  upon  him  on  the  Lord's  day.  There 
is  amend  for  the  ordinances,  amend  for  banishment,  if 
we  lose  the  ordinances  ;  for  God  he  will  be  ordinances 
to  us." 

The  passage  last  quoted  illustrates  the  temper  and 
aim  of  this  celebrated  discourse.  "  If  we  lose  the  ordi- 
nances, God  he  will  be  ordinances  to  us."  This  sen- 
tence contains  the  highest  form  of  spiritualism.  But 
this  could  not  be  acceptable  at  a  period,  when  religion 
was  so  identified  with  the  ordinances,  faith  with  its  sym- 
bols, and  worship  with  usages,  that  whenever  the  latter 
were  removed  or  neglected,  the  former  were  thought  to 
be  destroyed.  Our  fathers  were  remarkable  for  the 
most  punctilious  reverence  for  the  established  modes  of 
expressing  and  cultivating  the  religion  of  the  soul. 
They  knew  not,  therefore,  how  to  tolerate  the  senti- 
ments of  Mr.  Wheelwright.  The  sermon,  which  ad- 
vanced such  sentiments,  would  be  accounted  bold  in  any 
4 


26 

age.  In  the  age  when  the  preacher  lived,  it  was  con- 
sidered an  affront  to  the  civil  authorities,  and  was  pro- 
nounced, by  the  highest  tribunal  known  in  the  colony, 
seditious.  And  the  author  was  accordingly  banished. 
But  if  we  regard  the  circumstances  of  those  times, 
the  motives  which  brought  our  fathers  into  these  dis- 
tant parts  of  the  earth,  and  the  state  generally  of  the 
religious  world,  we  shall  not,  I  think,  fail  to  perceive 
that  the  Antinomian  controversy  grew  very  naturally 
out  of  those  circumstances.  The  Puritan  settlers  of 
New  England  had  left  their  native  land,  and  had  with 
difficulty  made  for  themselves  "  a  lodge  in  the  vast 
wilderness."  Beneath  forests  which  had  never  known 
the  woodman's  axe,  but  had  been  left  to  fulfil  their  cen- 
tennial life,  if  perchance  the  "  strong  wind  "  of  God 
allowed  them  to  waste  by  slow  decay,  and  resolve  them- 
selves into  their  original  dust ;  among  rocks  which  had 
never  echoed  the  strokes  of  man's  art,  which  has  since 
forced  its  way,  through  those  granite  gates,  to  the  se- 
cret chambers  of  the  earth,  and  brought  out  hidden 
treasures  for  the  reward  of  industry ;  —  into  the  midst 
of  such  desolate  scenes  had  our  pilgrim  fathers  come  to 
seek  a  retreat,  where  they  might  enjoy,  undisturbed, 
their  faith,  and  a  field  on  whose  virgin  soil  they  might 
scatter  the  seed  of  new  institutions  in  church  and  in 
state.  They  had  in  fact,  although  not  professedly,  per- 
haps not  with  a  clear  and  full  consciousness  of  their 
true  position,  but  in  fact,  they  had  separated  themselves 
from  the  Church  of  England  ;  their  mother  church  in 
whose  bosom  they  had  been  nourished,  and  to  which  they 
could  not  but  look  back  with  fond  and  yearning  hearts,* 

*  See  the  touching  and  beautiful  address,  at  parting,  of  the  Governor  and 
company  of  the  Massachusetts  colony,  to  their  brethren  in  and  of  the  Church 


27 

"  ever  acknowledging  that  such  hope  and  part  as 
they  had  obtained  in  the  common  salvation,  they  had 
received  in  her  bosom,  and  sucked  it  from  her  breasts," 
and  expressing  the  wish,  "  that  their  heads  and  hearts 
may  be  fountains  of  tears  for  the  everlasting  welfare  of 
their  English  brethren,  when  they  should  be  in  their  poor 
cottages  in  the  wilderness."  All  this  was  natural,  and 
was,  doubtless,  as  sincerely  felt,  as  it  was  beautifully  ex- 
pressed. But  they  had,  in  fact,  cut  themselves  off  from 
the  institutions,  civil  and  religious,  of  their  native  coun- 
try. An  ocean  rolled  between  them  and  those  institu- 
tions. They  were  subjected  to  new  influences.  The 
customs  and  modes  of  thinking,  which  had  formerly  sur- 
rounded them,  and  which  had  swayed,  with  a  subtle 
and  imperceptible  influence,  their  daily  and  hourly  life, 
were  now  absent.  They  were  Puritans,  and  if  true  to 
the  principle  indicated  by  the  name  of  their  sect,  they 
could  not  adopt  the  old  formulas  of  thought,  the  old 
modes  of  worship,  the  old  ceremonies  and  institutions, 
which,  in  their  view,  were  all  corrupt  and  needed  re- 
form. They  must,  therefore,  in  a  great  measure,  com- 
mence anew.  And  they  had  no  pattern  to  work  by  in 
church  or  state,  except  what  was  furnished  in  the  Scrip- 
tures, or  such  as  their  own  ingenuity  could  devise.  Mr. 
Wheelwright  preached  at  this  place,  and  the  Antino- 
mian  controversy  raged,  soon  after  the  commencement 
of  the  colony,  when  as  yet  everything  was  an  experi- 
ment ;  before  the  minds  of  men  had  melted  together 
into  a  firm  mass,  under  the  influence  of  common  prin- 
ciples of  belief,  and  established  institutions.     It  was  a 


of  England,  signed  by  Winthrop,  Coddington,  and  others,   on  board  the 
Arbella,  April  7, 1630. 


28 

transition  period  in  society.  Individual  minds  had  been 
freed  from  the  restraints  of  universally  acknowledged 
principles,  and  set  to  work  fervently,  each  one  for 
itself;  each  one  teeming  with  thoughts  and  projects, 
and  seeking,  in  his  own  way  and  according  to  his 
measure,  to  realize  the  idea  for  which  all  had  come  out 
from  the  beaten  paths  and  cleared  regions  of  civilized 
life  to  the  unbroken  stillness  and  rude  spaces  of  a  new 
world.  For  these  reasons  the  time  of  the  Antinomian 
controversy  is,  to  the  philosophical  reader,  one  of  the 
most  interesting  periods  in  the  history  of  our  country. 
Under  that  hard  theological  phraseology,  which  to 
many,  doubtless,  proves  "  a  stumbling-block,  and  a  rock 
of  offence,"  there  may  be  traced  the  working  of  great 
principles  *  in  religion  and  politics,  which  were,  even  at 
so  early  a  period,  struggling  to  express  themselves,  and 
to  take  shape,  and  which  have  since  been  unfolded,  and 
have  already  resulted  in  consequences  most  momentous 
to  us  and  to  our  posterity. 

In  fact  the  whole  controversy  was  a  struggle,  in  which 
were  asserted  anew  the  rights  of  the  spiritual  principle 
in  man's  nature.  Faith  and  works ,  in  theological  lan- 
guage, are  terms  that  correspond  to  two  different  forms 
of  character,  founded  either  upon  personal  conviction, 
or  upon  servile  imitation  ;  a  mere  conformity  to  cus- 
toms and  established  ways  of  thinking,  on  the  one  side, 
or  an  independent  sense  of  right  and  duty  in  the  soul, 
on  the  other  side.     This  is  the  ground  upon  which  the 

*  In  the  discussions,  that  grew  out  of  Antinomianism,  the  principles 
of  religious  liberty  are  said  to  have  been  evolved  and  clearly  stated,  by 
Henry  Vane  ;  to  whom  therefore  has  been  awarded  the  high  honor  of  being 
the  earliest  champion  of  civil  and  religious  freedom.  —  See  Upham's  Life  of 
Vane. 


29 

battles  of  successive  systems  of  religion  and  philosophy 
have  been  fought  age  after  age,  and  we  may  pre- 
sume that  it  will  continue  to  be  so.  Go  back  as  far  as 
the  most  ancient  historical  documents,  the  Scriptures, 
will  carry  you,  and  you  find  the  contest  ever  to  have 
been  between  the  spiritual  principle  in  man's  soul,  and 
mere  blind,  unquestioning,  mechanical  conformity  to 
usages  and  institutions,  an  irrational  cleaving  to  institu- 
tions, long  after  the  breath  of  life  has  gone  from  them, 
and  when  they  are  only  fit  to  be  buried  out  of  sight. 

Take,  for  illustration,  the  very  first  sacrifices  of 
which  any  account  has  been  preserved.  "  Cain  brought 
of  the  fruit  of  the  ground,  an  offering  unto  the  Lord. 
And  Abel,  he  also  brought  of  the  firstlings  of  his  flock, 
and  of  the  fat  thereof.  And  the  Lord  had  respect  unto 
Abel  and  to  his  offering ;  but  unto  Cain  and  to  his  of- 
fering he  had  not  respect."  In  the  brief  notice  which 
the  old  Scriptures  give  us  of  that  early  transaction,  the 
particular  reasons  are  not  assigned  for  the  favor  which 
was  shown  to  one  of  these  brethren,  whilst  the  service 
of  the  other  was  rejected.  But  we  cannot  hesitate  for 
a  moment  to  assign  the  true  reason.  One  of  those 
acts  was  performed  simply  because  it  was  enjoined,  and 
therefore  not  to  be  omitted,  while  the  other  was  a  volun- 
tary expression  of  the  soul  of  the  worshipper.  In  either 
case  the  mere  act  was  nothing,  of  no  account,  except 
as  it  served  to  express  and  give  form  to  the  sentiment 
within.     If  it  was  the  soul's  act  it  was  accepted. 

Again,  —  we  come  upon  the  case  of  Abraham.  And 
for  what  is  he  remarkable  ?  With  what  quality  is  his 
name  ever  associated?  Faith,  —  he  is  the  "  father  of 
the  faithful."  From  a  country  of  idolaters,  and  a  genera- 
tion of  superstitious  imitators,  this  noble  non-conform- 


30 

ist,  this  first  of  religious  pilgrims,  this  earliest  assertor 
of  the  rights  of  man's  spiritual  nature,  came  forth,  at 
the  divine  call,  from  the  home  of  his  brethren  and 
fathers,  and  "  sojourned  in  a  strange  land."  It  was  to 
vindicate  the  rights  of  conscience ;  to  seek  for  a  place, 
no  matter  how  desolate  its  natural  aspect,  no  matter 
how  little  it  might  bear  of  old  familiar  resemblances, 
where  the  most  sacred  sentiment  in  man's  soul  might 
have  liberty  to  expand,  and  to  take  what  shape,  and  to 
speak  in  what  tones  it  might  choose. 

Once  more,  —  carry  your  thoughts  forward  many 
years  from  the  time  of  Abraham.  The  Israelites,  his 
descendants,  have  increased  to  a  vast  host ;  have  been 
brought  out  from  Egypt  under  the  conduct  of  Moses, 
and  have  been  settled  in  the  promised  land  ;  that  land 
which  the  faith  of  their  pilgrim  father,  Abraham,  had 
led  him  to  take  possession  of  long  before.  The  law 
has  been  given  from  Sinai.  The  civil  and  religious 
polity  of  the  nation  has  been  established.  Institutions 
have  grown  up,  and  generation  after  generation  has 
been  born  and  educated,  and  their  characters  formed 
under  these  institutions.  And  in  proportion  to  the 
punctilious  respect  and  veneration,  paid  by  the  Israelites 
to  their  national  institutions,  is  their  want  of  faith,  their 
entire  lack  of  soul-religion.  In  this  state  of  Jewish 
society  appeared  the  company  of  the  prophets,  the  in- 
spired vindicators  of  a  spiritual  religion,  the  great  re- 
formers, not  so  much  of  the  abstract  truths  held  by  the 
national  intellect,  as  of  the  spirit  of  the  national  wor- 
ship, and  the  principles  of  the  national  morality.  They 
were,  in  the  midst  of  a  generation  of  formalists,  the 
spiritualists  of  their  age.  They  taught,  O  with  what 
words  of  scorching  rebuke  and  inspiring  eloquence,  the 


31 

great  lesson  which  their  contemporaries  most  needed, 
and  which  they  were  so  slow  to  understand,  that  institu- 
tions have  no  life,  except  what  is  breathed  into  them 
from  the  fervent  and  devout  soul  of  the  worshipper  ; 
that  the  sacrifices  which  they  laid  upon  their  altars 
were  but  a  cruel  mockery,  and  the  mitred  and  stoled 
priest  was  officiating  in  a  vain  show,  unless  those  sac- 
rifices were  the  sincere  expression  of  humble  and  grate- 
ful hearts,  and  the  priest  was  a  mouth  to  the  congrega- 
tion, to  give  utterance  to  their  faith  and  piety. 

Advance  forward  still  farther  in  the  train  of  the  ages, 
and  you  come  to  the  most  important  era  in  the  history 
of  our  race,  the  birth  of  the  Saviour,  and  the  introduc- 
tion of  his  religion  into  the  world.  And  what  is  the 
leading,  the  vital  principle  of  this  divine  religion  ?  Its 
great  peculiarity  consists  in  the  vindication  it  so  trium- 
phantly makes  of  the  spiritual  principle  in  man.  It  is 
a  soul-religion,  not  only  as  distinguished  from  forms  and 
rites,  but  also  and  still  more,  as  distinguished  from  a 
decent  exterior,  from  a  mere  prudential  conformity  of 
the  life  to  traditions  and  usages.  It  seeks  to  regenerate 
man ;  and  this  regeneration  can  only  be  effected  by 
penetrating,  as  it  does,  with  its  light  into  the  mind,  and 
with  its  purity  into  the  heart,  and  by  setting  up  its  king- 
dom within.  The  very  first  controversies,  which  this 
divine  religion  gave  rise  to,  were  conducted  by  the  great 
Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  with  the  Judaizing  Christians 
(as  they  were  called)  who  still  clung  to  what  the  apos- 
tle, in  his  strong,  emphatic  language,  called  the  "  beg- 
garly elements  "  of  morals  and  religion.  And  it  was 
the  exposition  of  that  primitive  interpreter  of  the  Gos- 
pel of  Jesus,  which  settled  the  foundation  principle  of 
our  religion  to  be  faith,  or  conviction  in  the  soul.     It 


32 

was  in  the  midst  of  such  controversies  that  our  religion 
had  its  birth,  and  by  the  divine  strength  of  this  princi- 
ple achieved  its  earliest  triumphs. 

Nor  have  the  illustrations  of  the  great  principle  we 
are  considering  been  exhausted.  Go  forward  with  me, 
Christian  hearers,  once  more  ;  follow  the  course  of  our 
religion  from  the  time  when  it  lay  in  the  manger  at 
Bethlehem,  worshipped  in  its  germ  and  promise  by  the 
wise  of  the  earth,  through  the  controversies  which  it 
held  with  the  schools  of  philosophy,  the  persecutions 
which  it  met  at  the  hand  of  power,  the  martyrdoms  that 
crowned  and  glorified  its  meek  confessors  ;  until  it  was 
graciously  received  up,  by  imperial  condescension,  to 
sit  by  the  side  of  the  Caesars,  on  the  throne  of  the 
world.  From  that  day  Satan  triumphed,  for  a  season, 
over  Christ.  The  church  was  indeed  exalted  in  human 
estimation.  But  its  locks  of  strength  were  shorn  off,  as 
it  lay  sleeping  through  the  night  of  centuries,  in  the 
harlot  lap  of  worldly  prosperity.  Follow  on,  in  imagi- 
nation, until  we  reach  the  time,  and  a  world-era  that 
time  is,  of  Martin  Luther,  that  great  man ;  great,  not 
by  reason  of  any  offices  he  bore,  or  of  inherited  do- 
minion, but  great  in  the  power  of  simple,  unadorned 
Christian  manhood.  When  he  stood  up  to  confront  kings, 
with  almost  every  hand  and  heart  in  Christendom  against 
him,  what  was  the  instrument  which  he  wielded  with  so 
much  success  ?  What  was  the  word  he  uttered,  that  went 
with  so  much  power  to  the  souls  of  men  ?  What,  in 
fine,  was  the  principle  of  the  reformation  ?  "  Justifi- 
cation by  faith."  This  was  the  doctrine,  this  the  prin- 
ciple, that  gave  him  the  victory  over  the  mightiest  spir- 
itual tyranny  that  has  ever  oppressed  humanity.  The 
Reformation  was  a  re-vindication  of  the  rights  of  the 


33 

soul.  Religion  had  been  reduced  to  a  succession  of 
outward  observances,  in  which  was  mingled  no  faith. 
Slavish  submission  to  authority,  and  the  mechanical, 
superstitious  performance  of  outward  acts,  without  any 
reference  to  thought,  sentiment,  or  principle,  constituted 
the  religion  of  the  Christian  world.  It  was  by  the  prin- 
ciple of  faith,  by  setting  forth  anew  the  spiritual  char- 
acter of  the  Gospel,  that  Luther  accomplished  his 
gigantic,  and  to  worldly  calculations,  hopeless  work. 
The  works,  to  which,  under  the  corrupt  system  of  Po- 
pery, men  had  been  taught  to  attach  ideas  of  merit, 
were  of  no  real,  intrinsic  worth.  The  only  god  that 
men  realized  was  the  Pope  ;  the  only  law  they  feared 
the  canons  of  the  church  ;  and  their  only  morality  con- 
sisted in  conformity  to  superstitious  usages  and  arbitrary 
appointments.  The  principle  on  which  Luther  depend- 
ed, and  which  in  fact  insured  his  success,  and  which  in 
theological  phraseology  was  termed  Justification  by  faith, 
went  to  base  character  upon  the  only  sure  foundation, 
a  spiritual  principle  in  the  soul ;  it  broke  up  the  reve- 
rence which  had  been  superstitiously  bestowed  upon 
human  authority  ;  it  set  the  human  mind  at  liberty  from 
the  bondage  in  which  it  had  been  held  so  long;  it 
brought  out  the  worth  of  the  individual,  and  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  high  civilization,  freedom,  and  pros- 
perity of  Protestant  Christendom. 

The  Puritans  were  the  fruit  which  the  Reformation 
produced  in  England.  Their  principle  was  to  "  carry 
out  the  work  of  the  Reformation;  "  to  purify  Christian- 
ity yet  more  from  the  corruptions  which  had  adhered 
to  it  in  the  course  of  ages.  The  noble  sentiment  of 
Robinson,  the  father  of  Plymouth  church,  was  "  that 
more  light,  as  he  was  verily  assured,  would  yet  break 
5 


34 

forth  from  God's  word  ;  "  and  however  he  might  reve- 
rence such  men  as  Luther  and  Calvin,  he  would  not 
yet  stop  where  they  had  finished,  but  would  go  on 
wherever  the  guiding  star  of  God's  truth  should  lead 
the  inquiring  mind.  It  was  not,  therefore,  strange  that, 
under  such  circumstances,  the  Antinomian  controversy 
should  have  sprung  up.  It  was  not  set  in  motion  by 
vulgar,  ignorant  fanatics,  the  licentiousness  of  whose 
practice  gave  a  bad  odor  to  their  high-toned  sentiments. 
It  was  promoted  by  such  men  as  Vane  and  Coddington. 
The  most  ample  and  honorable  testimony  was  uniformly 
borne,  even  by  those  who  differed  from  him  in  senti- 
ment, to  the  abilities  and  worth  of  Mr.  Wheelwright. 
Mrs.  Hutchinson,  who  bore  a  leading  part  in  the 
excitement  of  the  times,  was  acknowledged  on  all  sides 
to  be  a  woman  of  uncommon  powers.  And  even  Mr. 
Cotton,  the  gifted  teacher  of  Boston  First  Church,  had 
too  much  sympathy  with  the  new  sentiments,  to  lose 
his  respect  for  those  who  had  urged  those  sentiments 
too  boldly.  The  whole  controversy  was  founded  in  an 
attempt  to  give  new  vitality  and  spirituality  to  the  re- 
ligion of  the  times ;  to  resist  the  tendency,  which  is 
ever  at  work,  to  rely  too  much  upon  the  outward  mani- 
festations of  religious  principle,  to  the  neglect  of  the 
principle  itself  in  the  soul.  Undoubtedly  this  attempt 
ran  into  extravagances  of  sentiment  and  conduct.  But 
still  the  attempt  was  the  same  in  kind,  and  had  the  same 
object,  as  in  former  times  the  many  instances  we  have 
considered  ;  —  and  the  remark,  therefore,  may  be  re- 
peated, which  has  already  been  made,  that  the  struggle 
always  has  been,  and  we  may  presume,  always  will 
continue  to  be,  between  faith  and  works ;  between  the 
principle  of  religion  in  the  soul,  and  the  manifestation 


35 

of  it  in  conduct ;  between  the  sentiment  of  worship, 
and  the  institutions  which  are  established  to  nourish  and 
to  express  that  sentiment ;  between  the  living  spirit  of 
faith  and  piety,  and  dead  mechanical  conformity  to  fixed 
usages  and  forms.  Where  faith  is  exclusively  cultivated, 
religion  easily  degenerates  into  enthusiasm,  and  unwise, 
unprofitable  zeal.  And  on  the  other  hand,  where  too 
much  stress  is  laid  upon  traditions  and  usages  and  out- 
ward morality,  to  the  neglect  of  faith,  or  the  principle 
of  religion  in  the  soul,  hypocrisy  and  formality  assume 
the  place  of  true  righteousness,  which  is  briefly  de- 
scribed by  our  Saviour  as  consisting  in  love  to  God  and 
love  to  man. 

But  the  length  to  which  this  discourse  has  been 
already  extended  admonishes  me  to  relieve  your  pa- 
tience. I  have  brought  you,  my  hearers,  no  farther 
forward  than  1639,  Sept  17,  (Old  Style)  the  date  of  the 
gathering  of  a  distinct,  independent  church  at  Mount 
Wollaston.  Our  attention  has  been  confined  to  the 
brief,  but  interesting  period  which  preceded  the  day 
whose  Two  Hundredth  Anniversary  we  this  day  wel- 
come. And  here  for  the  present  I  will  close  my  re- 
marks, where  many  of  my  hearers  probably  expected 
I  should  begin. 

But  we  are  brought,  in  conclusion,  to  the  very  point 
of  time,  about  which  the  interesting  associations  of  the 
present  occasion  cluster.  Two  hundred  years!  how 
much  do  those  words  contain  and  suggest !  What  an 
amount  of  blessings,  civil,  political,  and  religious,  ac- 
cumulated by  the  wisdom,  the  experience,  and  the  virtue 
of  two  centuries,  through  the  labors,  the  tears,  the 
prayers,  and  the  sacrifices  of  our  fathers,  crowns  the 
present  hour  !  How  dependent  are  we,  for  all  that  we 
most  prize,  upon  those  who  have  lived,  and  thought, 


56 


and  purposed,  and  struggled  before  us !  How  insig- 
nificant is  the  best  that  the  individual  man  can  effect ! 
How  has  God  ordained  that  the  highest  good  we  can 
possess  on  earth  shall  be  inherited  good,  the  aggregate 
result  of  the  knowledge  and  virtues  of  generation  after 
generation  !  How  are  we  brought  back  to  the  solemn 
admonition  of  the  text : 

"  Beware  that  thou  forget  not  the  Lord  thy  God,  in 
not  keeping  his  commandments,  and  his  judgments, 
and   his  statutes,  which  I  command  thee  this  day : 

Lest  when  thou  hast  eaten  and  art  full,  and  hast 
built  goodly  houses,  and  dwelt  therein  ; 

Then  thine  heart  be  lifted  up,  and  thou  forget  the 
Lord  thy  God : 

And  thou  say  in  thine  heart,  My  power  and  the  might 
of  my  hand  hath  gotten  me  this  wealth. 

But  thou  shalt  remember  the  Lord  thy  God." 


See  Appendix  T. 


DISCOURSE  II 


St.  John  iv.  20. 


OUR  FATHERS  WORSHIPPED   IN  THIS  MOUNTAIN. 

In  the  former  part  of  the  day,  we  brought  forward 
the  ecclesiastical  history  of  this  place  to  the  time  when 
a  distinct  independent  church  was  gathered  at  Mount 
Wollaston.  Our  fathers  had  "  worshipped  in  this  moun- 
tain," as  we  have  seen,  some  few  years  before  the  time 
from  which  we  date  the  origin  of  our  church.  Those 
years,  though  few  in  number,  were  years  of  great  in- 
terest. The  individual  who  preached  here,  and  several 
of  those  who  adopted  his  sentiments,  were  distinguish- 
ed for  talents  and  worth,  and  are  known  in  the  history 
of  the  world. 


See  Appendix  T. 


38 

In  the  Journal  of  Gov.  Winthrop,  under  date  of 
September  17,  1639,  the  origin  of  this  church  is  thus 
mentioned  :  "  Mount  Wollaston  had  been  formerly  laid 
to  Boston  ;  but  many  poor  men  having  lots  assigned 
them  there,  and  not  able  to  use  those  lands  and  dwell 
still  in  Boston,  they  petitioned  the  town  first  to  have  a 
minister  there,  and  after  to  have  leave  to  gather  a  church 
there,  which  the  town  at  length  (upon  some  small  com- 
position) gave  way  unto.  So  this  day  they  gathered 
a  church  after  the  usual  manner,  and  chose  one  Mr. 
Tompson,  a  very  gracious,  sincere  man.  and  Mr.  Flynt, 
a  godly  man  also,  their  ministers." 

Six  members  only  whose  names  are  subscribed  to  the 
covenant,*  which  is  given  in  the  first  edition  of  Mr. 
Hancock's  Century  Discourses,  together  with  the  pas- 
tor and  teacher,  composed  the  small  church  gathered 
at  this  place.  "  Mr.  Tompson  was  ordained  eight 
days  after  the  church  was  gathered,  namely,  September 
24,  1639,  and  Mr.  Flynt  the  17th  of  March  following."  f 
This  church  was  the  fifteenth  in  order  of  time  that  was 
gathered  in  the  Massachusetts  colony.  According  to 
Mr.  Hancock,  the  first  deacons  J  were  Mr.  Samuel  Bass, 
who  had  been  dismissed  and  recommended  to  them 
from  the  church  in  Roxbury,  July  5,  1640;  and  Mr. 
Richard  Brackett,  who  was  ordained,  July  21,  1642.    In 

*  See  Appendix  B. 

f  So  says  Mr.  Hancock.  What  his  source  of  information  was  I  cannot 
determine,  unless  it  was  the  manuscript  record  in  the  hand- writing  of  Mr. 
Flynt,  the  first  teacher  of  the  church,  which  he  mentions  in  one  of  his  notes. 
Winthrop  states  that  Mr.  Tompson  was  ordained,  November  19,  1639.  See 
Appendix  I.  Mr.  Hancock  says  too  that  the  church  was  gathered,  Septem- 
ber 16 ;  but  the  authority  of  Winthrop,  who  was  contemporary  with  the  oc- 
currence, is  to  be  preferred. 

t  See  Appendix  H. 


39 

addition  to  these  two,  I  find  in  the  Boston  First  Church 
Records,  under  date  of  12th  July,  1640,  this  entry  ;  "  Our 
brother  Alexander  Winchester,  upon  the  desire  of  the 
church  of  Christ  at  Mount  Wollaston,  now  called  Brain- 
tree,  is  recommended  and  dismissed  unto  them  for 
their  help  in  the  office  of  deacon." 

Some  uncertainty  exists  as  to  the  precise  time  when 
Mr.  Tompson*  came  over  to  this  country.  There 
was  a  Rev.  William  Tompson,  probably  the  same  per- 
son, member  of  the  church  of  Dorchester  in  1636. 
Previous  to  his  settlement  at  Mount  Wollaston,  he  had 
been  very  useful  at  Acomenticus  (now  York  in  the  State 
of  Maine).  He  had  been  in  the  exercise  of  the  min- 
istry before  he  left  England,  having  been  settled  in 
Lancashire.  In  the  year  1642,  upon  an  application 
of  sundry  persons  in  Virginia,  that  ministers  of  the 
Congregational  order  might  be  sent  out  to  them,  Mr. 
Tompson  was  selected,  with  two  others,  to  go  on  this 
mission.  Their  preaching  seems  to  have  made  a  good 
impression  upon  many;  but  the  following  year  they 
were  obliged  to  leave  and  return  home,  by  reason  of 
an  order  of  the  government  of  the  Virginia  colony, 
"  that  such  as  would  not  conform  to  the  ceremonies  of 
the  Church  of  England  should  by  such  a  day  depart 
the  country."  While  absent  on  this  mission,  Mr.  Tomp- 
son's  wife  died ;  and  in  the  first  Book  of  Records  of 
Roxbury  Church  is  a  notice  of  the  event  in  the  shape 
of  verses,  supposed  to  be  addressed  to  the  surviving  hus- 
band by  his  deceased  partner.  Some  of  the  verses  are 
free  from  the  conceits  that  entered  so  largely  into  the 
poetry  of  that  day,  and  are  marked  by  simplicity  and 

*  See  Appendix  I. 


40 

natural  expression  of  feeling.  In  1645,  Mr.  Tompson 
was  appointed  to  accompany  the  forces  raised  by  the 
colonies,  for  the  war  at  that  time  threatened  by  the  In- 
dians. It  was  intended  that  he  should  preach  to  the 
troops  during  the  war  ;  but  the  dangers  that  threatened 
the  colony  in  that  quarter  were  averted,  and  there  was 
therefore  no  necessity  for  his  absence  from  home.  Mr. 
Tompson  is  spoken  of,  by  those  who  have  written  of 
our  early  history,  as  a  "  powerful  and  successful  preach- 
er," and  quite  a  pillar  in  these  New  England  churches. 
He  is  also  said  to  have  been,  in  his  day,  an  author  of 
some  repute  ;  but  nothing  is  mentioned  respecting  his 
writings,  except  that  he  composed  certain  prefaces  for 
books  written  by  others,  none  of  which  have  I  suc- 
ceeded in  discovering.  He  was  constitutionally  in- 
clined to  melancholy,  which  seems  to  have  embittered 
a  considerable  portion  of  his  life,  and  to  have  abridged 
his  usefulness.  He  died,  December  10th,  1666.  In  the 
Roxbury  Church  Records  is  the  following  notice,  which 
adds  a  few  particulars  to  our  knowledge  of  him  :  "  Mr. 
William  Tompson,  Pastor  to  the  Church  at  Braintree, 
departed  this  life  in  the  69th  year  of  his  age.  He  had 
been  held  under  the  power  of  melancholy  for  the  space 
of  eight  years.  During  which  time  he  had  divers  lucid 
intervals  and  sweet  revivings,  especially  the  week 
before  he  died,  in  so  much  that  he  essayed  to  go  to  the 
church,  and  administer  the  Lord's  Supper  to  them ;  but 
his  body  was  so  weak  that  he  could  neither  go  nor  ride. " 
Thus  died  the  first  pastor  of  this  church.  He  was  in- 
terred here,  and  a  stone,  bearing  an  inscription  to  his 
memory,  is  to  be  seen  in  our  burying  place. 

Mr,  Henry  Flynt,  who  was  associated  with  Mr.  Tomp- 
son as  teacher  of  the  church,  came  to  this  country  in 


41 

the  year  1635,  and  his  name  is  found  that  year  among 
the  members  of  the  Boston  First  Church.  He  was  or- 
dained, 17th  March,  1639-40,  and  died,  April  27,  1668, 
having  survived  the  pastor  a  little  over  one  year.  He 
was  father  to  the  Rev.  Josiah  Flynt,  who  was  pastor  of 
Dorchester  church,  and  grandfather  of  Henry  Flynt  Esq., 
who  is  well  known  as  having  been  a  tutor  in  Harvard 
University  "  upwards  of  fifty-five  years,  and  about  sixty 
years  a  fellow  of  the  corporation."  The  historian  of 
the  University  remarks,  that  "  most  of  the  educated 
men  in  New  England,  during  a  considerable  part  of  the 
last  century,  had  been  under  the  instruction  of  this  re- 
markable tutor,  or  of  those  whom  he  taught."* 

The  first  race  of  ministers  in  this  church,  those  who 
had  been  born  in  England  and  who  had  exercised  their 
ministry  there,  had  now  passed  away ;  and  their  suc- 
cessors were  all  educated  in  this  country.  To  the 
death  of  Mr.  Flynt  a  period  of  nearly  twenty-nine  years 
had  elapsed  since  the  gathering  of  the  church.  A  few 
months  after  the  church  was  gathered,  and  the  two  first 
ministers  were  settled,  namely,  May  13th,  1640,  the  pe- 
tition of  those  who  resided  at  the  Mount  was  granted, 
and  they  were  incorporated  as  a  town,  according  to  the 
agreement  made  with  the  town  of  Boston.  The  name 
of  the  new  town,  Braintree,  was,  doubtless,  derived 
from  the  Braintree  company,  already  mentioned,  which 
in  1632  had  begun  to  sit  down  here,  and  removed 
hence  to  Newtown,  afterwards  Cambridge.  This  com- 
pany came  from  Braintree,  in  Essex  County,  England. 
The  celebrated  Mr.  Hooker,  who  the  next  year  came 
over  and  joined  them  at  Newtown,  had  been  ther  min- 

*  See  Peirce's  History  of  Harvard  University. 

6 


42 

ister  before  they  left  England.     Among  the  names  of 
that  company,  as  given  in  the  History  of  Cambridge,* 
several  occur  that  are  at  the  present  day  familiar  in  this 
vicinity.     And  in  order  to  account  for  the  name  of 
Braintree  f  being  given  to  this  town,  we  may  either 
adopt  the  suggestion,  that  has  been  made  by  high  au- 
thority, that  that  company  remained  here  and  did  not  re- 
move to  Newtown  ;  or  if  we  think  the  historical  evidence 
conclusive  for  their  removal,  we  may  suppose  that  sev- 
eral of  them  returned  hither,  when  a  few  years  after- 
wards they  of  Newtown  made  complaint  to  the  General 
Court  for  want  of  room,  and  when  the  great  body  of 
the  company,  together  with  their  pastor,  emigrated  to 
Connecticut  River,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  Hart- 
ford.    It  is  certainly  what  we  should  expect,  that  some 
place  among  the  new  settlements  should  bear  the  name 
of  a  company,  that  had  for  their  minister  so  celebrated 
a  man  as  Hooker.     And  what  place  more  likely  to  re- 
ceive the  appellation,  than  that  which  offered  the  first 
resting  place  to  these  Pilgrims,  after  their  arrival  in  New 
England  ? 

It  would  gratify  a  very  natural  curiosity,  could  we 
know,  more  particularly  than  we  do,  the  condition  of 
the  town  and  church  here,  during  the  twenty-nine  years 
that  elapsed  between  the  gathering  of  the  church  and 
the  death  of  the  teacher.  But  the  records  of  the  town 
furnish  only  scanty  materials,  and  no  church  records  of 
that  early  period  are  known  to  be  in  existence.  In  one 
of  the  volumes  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Collec- 


*  See  Dr.  Holmes's  History  of   Cambridge,  in  Mass.  Historical   Col- 
lections, 
f  See  Appendix  C. 


43 

tions  is  a  Report,*  signed  by  three  individuals,  who 
were  appointed  by  the  General  Court  a  committee,  to 
inquire  concerning  the  maintenance  of  the  ministers  of 
the  churches  in  the  county  of  Suffolk,  to  which  county 
this  town  then  belonged.  They  met  at  Braintree  on 
the  22d  of  July,  1657,  and  collected  the  information 
they  wished  from  the  deacons  of  the  neighboring 
churches.  Of  Braintree  they  made  report,  that  they 
were  informed  by  the  deacons  of  Braintree,  "  that  Mr. 
Flynt  and  Mr.  Tompson  are  each  of  them  allowed  £55 
per  annum,  paid  generally  in  such  things  as  themselves 
take  up  and  accept  of  from  the  inhabitants ;  paid  ordi- 
narily yearly  or  within  the  year,  the  town  being  about 
30  families,  Mr.  Tompson's  family  being  three  persons, 
Mr.  Flynt's  family  being  about  seven  or  eight  persons. 
These  elders  depend  generally  upon  public  contribu- 
tion." 

After  the  death  of  the  pastor  and  teacher,  the 
church  here  remained  without  any  settled  minister 
above  four  years.f  There  were  unhappy  divisions  in 
the  church,  which  seem  to  have  occasioned  great  dis- 
turbances, and  to  have  been  a  subject  of  concern  to 
the  neighboring  churches.  From  a  manuscript  journal, 
with  the  use  of  which  I  have  been  favored,  kept  by  the 
Rev.  Josiah  Flynt,  son  of  the  teacher  of  this  church, 
some  light  is  thrown  upon  the  history  of  the  interval.  It 
appears  from  this  manuscript,  that  Mr.  Flynt  preached  to 
this  church  for  some  time,  and,  together  with  a  Mr. 
Bulkley,  actually  received  a  call  to  settle,  and  that  an 
offer  was  made  of  £60  per  annum  to  each,  besides  cer- 
tain privileges ;  but  the  divisions  that  rent  the  church 

*  See  Appendix  I.  f  See  Appendix  L. 


44 

into  parties  prevented  any  settlement,  and  Mr.  Flynt 
soon  after  accepted  a  call  to  become  pastor  of  the 
neighboring  church  of  Dorchester. 

At  length  Mr.  Moses  Fiske  *  was  sent  hither,  by  or- 
der of  the  County  Court  held  at  Boston,  "  to  improve 
his  labors,"  as  the  order  expresses  it,  "  in  preaching  the 
word  at  Braintree,  until  the  church  there  agree  and  ob- 
tain supply  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  or  this  court 
take  further  order."  Mr.  Fiske  accordingly  came,  and 
preached  for  the  first  time,  December  3,  1671.  His 
preaching  appears  to  have  been  acceptable ;  for  several 
of  the  brethren  visited  him  the  day  after  the  Sabbath, 
and  thanked  him  for  his  compliance  with  the  order  of 
the  court ;  and  on  February  24th  following,  he  receiv- 
ed a  unanimous  call  to  settle  in  this  place,  which  he 
accepted.  He  was  ordained,  September  11,  1672. 
With  him  our  Church  Records  commence.  In  them  it 
is  recorded,  that  at  his  ordination  Mr.  Eliot  prayed  and 
gave  the  charge,  Mr.  Oxenbridge  and  the  deacons 
joined  in  the  laying  on  hands,  Mr.  Thacher  of  Boston 
gave  the  right  hand  of  fellowship.  It  is  not  mentioned 
who  preached  on  the  occasion,  but  it  is  probable  that 
Mr.  Fiske  preached  himself,  in  conformity  with  a  prac- 
tice that  prevailed  at  that  early  period  in  New  England. 

Mr.  Fiske  was  the  son  of  the  Rev.  John  Fiske,  who 
came  from  England  before  1637,  was  a  physician  and 
minister,  and  was  the  first  minister  of  Wenham  and 
Chelmsford,  in  which  latter  place  he  died,  1677.  His 
son  Moses,  the  third  minister  of  Braintree,  was  gradu- 
ated at  Harvard  College  in  1662.  His  ministry  in  this 
town  was  a  long  one,  extending  over  thirty-six  years, 

#  See  Appendix  M. 


45 

and  he  appears  to  have  enjoyed  and  retained  the  affec- 
tionate respect  of  his  flock.  He  died  here,  August  10, 
1703  ;  and  his  ashes  repose  beside  his  predecessors. 
He  left  a  numerous  family  behind  him.  One  of  his 
sons,  Samuel  Fiske,  was  afterwards  settled  as  minister 
of  the  first  church  in  Salem.  I  do  not  find  that  Mr. 
Fiske  published  anything  during  his  life.  He  preached 
the  sermon  before  the  Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery 
Company,  in  the  year  1694  ;  the  manuscript  of  which 
sermon  is  in  the  library  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society. 

It  may  be  mentioned  as  a  fact  honorable  to  the  dis- 
position of  the  inhabitants  of  this  town,  during  the 
period  we  have  just  been  passing  over,  and  some  indi- 
cation too  of  the  growth  of  the  place,  that  among  the 
contributions  made  in  various  places,  for  the  erection  of 
a  new  edifice  for  the  college  at  Cambridge,  which  edi- 
fice was  completed  in  1677,  the  town  of  Braintree 
furnished  the  sum  of  £87  14s.  6d.,  there  being  only 
four  towns  in  the  colony  that  contributed  a  larger  sum 
for  the  same  purpose. 

From  a  manuscript  Diary  *  kept  by  a  Mr.  Fairfield, 
an  intelligent  mechanic,  who  resided  in  this  town  during 
part  of  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Fiske,  I  have  selected  a  no- 
tice of  this  minister,  which  is  the  more  valuable  as  a  tes- 
timony to  his  good  qualities  from  the  fact,  that  it  was 
inserted  in  a  private  diary,  kept  by  a  humble  individual, 
and  was  not  meant  to  be  made  public.  "  This  excel- 
lent person  was  ordained  pastor  of  the  church  in  Brain- 
tree,  in  September  1672,  in  which  sacred  employment 
he  continued  till  his  dying  day,  a  diligent,  faithful  labor- 

*  See  Appendix  M  for  some  account  of  this  Diary. 


46 

er  in  the  harvest  of  Jesus  Christ ;  studious  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  having  an  extraordinary  gift  in  prayer  above 
many  good  men ;  and  in  preaching  equal  to  the  most, 
inferior  to  few  ;  zealously  diligent  for  God  and  the  good 
of  men  ;  one  who  thought  no  labor,  cost,  or  suffering 
too  dear  a  price  for  the  good  of  his  people.     His  pub- 
lic preaching  was  attended  with  convincing  light  and 
clearness,  and  powerful,  affectionate  application ;  and 
his  private  oversight  was  performed  with  humility  and 
unwearied  diligence.     He  lived  till  he  was  near  sixty- 
five  years  of  age,  beloved  and  honored   of  the  most 
that  knew  him.     On  the  18th  of  July,  being  the  Lord's 
day,  he  preached  all  day  in  public,  but  was  not  well. 
The  distemper  continued  and  proved  a  malignant  fever. 
So  that  little  hopes  of  recovery  appearing,  his  church 
assembled  together,  and  earnestly  besought  the  great 
Shepherd  of  the  sheep,  that  they  might  not  be  deprived 
of  him.     But  heaven  had  otherwise  determined ;  for  on 
Tuesday,  August  10th,  he  died  about  one  in  the  after- 
noon, and  was,  with  suitable  solemnity  and  great  lamen- 
tation, interred  in  Braintree  in  his  own  tomb,  the  12th 
day." 

Such  is  the  affectionate  tribute  paid  to  the  memory 
of  a  faithful  minister  of  Christ  by  one  of  his  unpretend- 
ing parishioners.  How  much  more  valuable  such  a 
witness  borne  to  the  solid  worth  of  a  man,  than  the 
most  studied  eulogy,  composed  according  to  the  rules 
of  art,  and  inscribed  for  the  world's  eye  on  costly  mon- 
uments ! 

To  Mr.  Fiske  succeeded  in  the  ministry  in  this  place 
Mr.   Joseph  Marsh.*     Mr.  Marsh   was    graduated   at 

*  See  Appendix  N. 


47 

Harvard  College  in  1705.  In  1706  and  1707  he  was 
employed  as  teacher  of  a  school  in  Hingham,  and  was 
unanimously  called  to  the  ministry  in  this  place,  and 
ordained,  May  18th,  1709.  "  He  continued,"  says  Mr. 
Hancock,  "  his  faithful  labors  here  till  his  translation." 
His  death  took  place,  March  8,  1725  -  6,  in  the  41st  year 
of  his  age,  and  17th  of  his  ministry.  His  remains  lie 
in  the  same  tomb  with  those  of  his  immediate  prede- 
cessor, Mr.  Fiske.  His  son  kept  a  private  school  in 
this  town,  and  the  late  President  Adams  and  Josiah 
Quincy  Jr.  were  among  his  pupils. 

Mr.  Marsh's  successor  in  the  ministry  was  Mr.  John 
Hancock,*  whose  father  was  minister  of  Lexington,  and 
who  to  a  venerable  old  age  retained  great  influence  in 
all  the  neighboring  churches.  Mr.  Hancock  was  settled 
here,  November  2,  1726,  and  continued  in  the  exercise 
of  his  ministry  until  his  decease,  which  took  place,  May 
7,  1744.  He  died  in  the  42d  year  of  his  age,  having 
discharged  his  sacred  duties  nearly  eighteen  years.  A 
sermon  was  preached  at  his  funeral  by  Dr.  Gay  of 
Hingham,  who  thus  speaks  of  the  qualities  of  the  de- 
ceased pastor :  "  It  is  the  death  of  a  prophet,  and  of  the 
son  of  a  prophet  we  are  bewailing ;  of  an  able  minister 
of  the  New  Testament,  taken  away  from  us  in  the  midst 
of  his  days  and  growing  serviceableness.  — 

"  The  Father  of  lights  furnished  him  with  good  gifts, 
natural  and  acquired,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry : 
his  prayers  and  sermons  were  judiciously  composed,  and 
gravely  uttered  in  the  language  of  Holy  Scripture,  and 
with  a  moving  pathos ;  discovering  a  large  and  inti- 
mate acquaintance  with  the  most  substantial  things  of 

*  See  Appendix  O. 


48 

religion,  and  breathing  a  spirit  of  piety  toward   God, 
and  of  love  to  the  souls  of  men. 

"  As  a  wise  and  skilful  pilot  hath  he  steered  you  a  right 
and  safe  course,  in  the  late  troubled  sea  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal affairs,  guarding  you  against  dangerous  rocks,  on 
the  one  hand  and  on  the  other;  so  that  you  have 
escaped  the  errors  and  enthusiasm  which  some,  and  the 
infidelity  and  indifferency  in  matters  of  religion,  which 
others  have  fallen  into." 

The  preacher,  in  the  latter  portion  of  the  passage 
I  have  just  quoted,  alludes  to  the  excitement  which  had 
been  occasioned  in  this  community,  by  the  visit,  to 
New  England,  of  the  celebrated  Whitfield,  whose  ex- 
traordinary eloquence  and  zeal  roused  an  interest  in 
the  subject  of  religion  as  extravagant  and  enthusiastic, 
as  the  previous  torpor  had  been  lamentable.  Mr.  Han- 
cock seems  to  have  evinced  wisdom,  fortitude,  and 
faithfulness  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  through  that 
trying  season. 

Mr.  Hancock  was  singularly  favored  in  some  of  the 
circumstances  of  his  life  and  ministry.  He  transmit- 
ted to  his  son  a  name,  which  has  been  rendered,  by 
that  son's  conspicuous  position  and  acknowledged  vir- 
tues, illustrious  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  and  which 
must  ever  be  repeated  in  connexion  with  the  history  of 
Freedom  in  this  Western  Continent.  And  with  the 
water  of  Christian  baptism,  he  gave  the  name  of  John 
to  another  individual,  who  stood  before  kings  and 
princes,  the  fearless  and  persevering  advocate  of  his 
country's  rights,  who  raised  himself,  with  the  consent  of 
millions,  to  the  people's  throne,  and  who  fell  asleep  in 
an  honored  old  age,  with  the  glad  shouts  ringing  in  his 
ears  of  a  nation  he  had  helped  to  redeem. 


49 

During  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Hancock  a  new  and 
commodious,  and  for  the  time  elegant  place  *  of  wor- 
ship was  erected  by  his  society,  which  was  dedicated  by 
the  pastor  in  1732,  and  which,  after  standing  nearly  a 
century,  was  taken  down,  when  the  more  spacious  and 
costly  edifice,  in  which  we  are  now  assembled,  was  erect- 
ed. In  1739,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  first  century 
from  the  gathering  of  this  ancient  church,  he  collected 
the  scattered  memorials  of  its  history,  which  I  have  on 
the  present  occasion  done  but  little  more  than  to  repeat, 
and  uttered  those  fervent  prayers  and  benedictions, 
which,  we  will  trust  in  God,  have,  amidst  many  imper- 
fections incident  to  humanity,  been  in  some  good  mea- 
sure answered  and  realized,  in  the  multitudes  that  since 
his  time  have  met  within  the  walls  of  the  former  or  latter 
house,  to  hear  the  words  of  life  and  the  messages  of 
salvation  ;  who  have  sat  down  together  at  the  Lord's 
table  to  commemorate  the  love  of  a  dying  Redeemer ; 
or  who  have  been  brought  hither,  in  unconscious  infan- 
cy or  more  unconscious  death,  to  receive  upon  their 
brows  the  sign  of  the  covenant,  or  to  be  dismissed,  with 
the  voice  of  supplication,  through  the  gates  of  death,  to 
the  mansions  of  departed  spirits,  and  to  the  presence  of 
their  God. 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Hancock,  the  pulpit  of  this 
church  was  unsupplied  by  a  settled  pastor,  for  the  space 
of  a  year  and  a  half  or  more.  The  first  candidate 
whose  name  is  mentioned  in  the  Precinct  Records  was 
Mr.  Stevens.  Mr.  Benjamin  Stevens,  after  supplying 
the  pulpit  several  Sundays,  was,  by  a  unanimous  vote, 
passed  on  the  22d  of  October,  1744,  elected  pastor  of 

*  See  Appendix.  P. 


50 

this  church,  and  invited  to  settle  here  in  the  ministry. 
He  saw  reason  to  decline  the  invitation.  The  call  was 
repeated  at  a  subsequent  meeting,  and  was  again 
respectfully  declined.  At  another  meeting,  held  25th 
February,  1744-5,  three  gentlemen  were  put  in  nomi- 
nation, Mr.  Vinal,  Mr.  Newman,  and  Mr.  Stevens. 
Mr.  Stevens  now  had  the  largest  number  of  votes  ;  but 
it  was  apparent  that  there  was  a  division  in  the  minds  of 
the  people,  and  he,  in  his  reply,  proposed  that  the  mat- 
ter of  his  settlement,  in  this  state  of  things,  should  be 
laid  before  a  council  of  clergymen  of  the  neighboring 
churches.  The  result  was  a  final  reply  from  Mr.  Ste- 
vens in  the  negative.  On  the  29th  of  July,  1745,  the 
precinct  wisely  voted  that  they  would  employ  but  one 
candidate,  and  that  an  invitation  to  supply  the  pulpit 
should  be  given  to  Mr.  Lemuel  Briant.*  Mr.  Briant 
was  soon  after  elected  minister  of  this  church  by  an 
unanimous  vote.  He  accepted  the  invitation  in  a  let- 
ter which  stands  recorded  in  the  North  Precinct  Re- 
cords, and  he  was  ordained,  December  4,  1745.  Mr. 
Briant  was  a  native  of  Scituate,  Massachusetts,  where 
his  ancestors  had  resided  from  a  very  early  period  in  the 
history  of  the  country.  He  was  graduated  at  Harvard 
College  in  1739.  He  has  been  pronounced  "  a  man  of 
extraordinary  powers ;  "  and  the  writings  which  I  have 
met  with  from  his  pen  prove  that  this  praise  is  not 
without  solid  grounds.  His  sentiments  in  theology 
were  liberal ;  and  although  the  great  majority  of  his 
society  appear  to  have  gone  along  with  him  cordially, 
there  were  some  who  were  disturbed  by  the  boldness 
with  which  he  attacked  current  doctrines,  and  more 
than  all,  perhaps,  disturbed  by  the  singularities  which 

#  See  Appendix  Q. 


51 

were  only  natural  to  him.  In  the  year  1749  he  publish- 
ed a  sermon,  the  title  of  which  was,  "  The  Absurdity  and 
Blasphemy  of  depreciating  Moral  Virtue  ;  a  sermon 
preached  at  the  West  Church  in  Boston,  June  18,  1749," 
from  the  text,  Isaiah  lxiv.  6  ;  —  "  All  our  righteousnesses 
are  as  filthy  rags ;  "  —  in  which  it  was  the  object  of  the 
preacher  to  vindicate  the  text  from  the  common,  but, 
as  he  esteemed  it,  false  interpretation,  as  if  the  Prophet 
meant  to  condemn,  as  utterly  worthless  and  despicable, 
all  the  righteousness  which  consisted  in  the  best  en- 
deavors  of  the  best  men  ;  whereas  he  explained  the 
Prophet  as  speaking  in  reference  to  the  whole  commu- 
nity, and  asserting  that  the  Jewish  nation,  as  a  nation, 
was  destitute  of  that,  which,  instead  of  being  worthless 
and  despicable,  it  was  most  desirable  and  essential  that 
men  should  acquire.  This  sermon  could  not  fail  to  be 
a  signal  for  a  theological  controversy  ;  and  accordingly 
one  began,  and  was  carried  on  between  Mr.  Briant,  on 
the  one  side,  and  Mr.  Niles  of  the  middle  precinct  in 
Braintree,  Mr.  Porter  of  Bridgewater,  Mr.  Foxcroft  of 
Boston,  and  several  others,  on  the  opposite  side.  A 
sermon,  evidently  intended  as  a  reply  to  Mr.  Briant, 
was  delivered  by  Mr.  Porter  in  the  middle  precinct  of 
Braintree.  To  this  sermon,  which  was  afterwards  print- 
ed, Mr.  Briant  replied  in  the  form  of  a  letter  addressed 
to  the  author.  This  letter  was  answered  by  Mr.  Porter 
and  his  friends  (or  attestators,  as  they  were  rather  sin- 
gularly called).  Mr.  Briant  came  before  the  public 
with  a  second  letter ;  and  there,  I  presume,  the  contro- 
versy rested.  One  of  the  opponents  of  Mr.  Briant  in 
this  controversy  took  occasion  to  speak,  in  a  deprecia- 
ting tone,  of  Dr.  Mayhew,  whom  he  scornfully  calls  the 
intimate  friend  of  the  pastor  of  Braintree  First  Church. 


52 

I  have  already  stated  that  Mr.  Briant's  sermon  on 
moral  virtue  was  printed  after  having  been  preached  at 
the  West  Church,  Boston,  where  Dr.  Mayhew  was  the 
settled  pastor.  It  had  probably  met  with  a  favorable  re- 
ception there,  which  occasioned  the  publication.  But 
the  circumstance  that  was  mentioned  in  a  scornful  tone 
will  excite  in  the  minds  of  posterity  quite  another  sen- 
timent. To  have  been  the  friend  of  Dr.  Mayhew  was 
honorable  alike  to  the  head  and  heart  of  Mr.  Briant. 

Mr.  Briant  is  the  only  one  of  your  ministers,  since 
the  gathering  of  this  ancient  church,  whose  ashes  do 
not  repose  here.  He  was  dismissed  from  the  pastoral 
care  of  this  church,  October  22,  1753,  at  his  own  ear- 
nest request  that  "  they  would  release  him  from  the 
burdens  and  labors  of  his  office."  His  health  had  fail- 
ed him  ;  and  this  seems  to  have  occasioned  the  request, 
which  was  granted  by  his  society,  with  thanks  to  him 
for  his  labors  among  them.  He  died  the  year  follow- 
ing at  Hingham,  and  was  buried  among  his  fathers  at 
Scituate. 

To  Mr.  Briant  must  be  awarded  the  praise  of  being 
a  man  of  first  rate  abilities,  a  bold  and  clear  thinker, 
whose  mind  had  run  considerably  beyond  the  prevalent 
sentiments  of  his  day.  His  sermon  on  moral  virtue 
was  a  fearless  and  vigorous  exposure  of  the  absurdities 
into  which  a  creed  had  been  pushed,  and  from  which  it 
was  essential  that  Christianity  should  be  vindicated, 
in  order  to  save  it  from  the  neglect  of  thinking  men. 
And  yet  it  is  well  for  us  to  remember,  that  truth  in  all  its 
fulness  and  beauty  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  midst  of  the 
strong  and  angry  feelings,  excited  by  opposition  and 
controversy.  Truth  shuns  the  confusion  and  agitation 
of  controversy,   and   loves  quiet,  calm,  long  sustained 


53 

contemplation,  during  which  all  sides  of  the  great  theme 
are  deliberately  surveyed,  and  the  mind,  avoiding  ex- 
tremes, attains  those  well  balanced  opinions  and  mod- 
erate sentiments.,  which  are  essential  features  of  sound 
philosophy  and  true  religion. 

It  may  seem  strange  to  you,  my  hearers,  that  I  should 
bring  them  together ;  but  I  cannot  avoid  instituting  a 
comparison  between  Mr.  Wheelwright,  the  first  preach- 
er at  Mount  Wollaston,  and  Mr.  Briant,  who,  more 
than  a  century  afterwards,  ministered  to  this  church. 
Little  is  hazarded  in  the  assertion,  that  in  point  of  in- 
tellect they  stand  in  the  first  class  of  the  New  England 
clergy.  They  were  very  different,  I  am  well  aware,  in 
the  structure  and  tendency  of  their  minds,  and  quite  at 
variance  in  the  creeds  which  they  adopted  and  advo- 
cated, each  with  so  much  acuteness,  force,  and  per- 
suasiveness. But  it  is  for  this  very  reason  that  they 
deserve  to  be  studied  in  connexion.  They  were  placed 
in  somewhat  similar  circumstances,  during  the  respec- 
tive periods  in  which  they  lived.  They  were  both  of 
them  bold  and  candid,  and  of  course  imprudent,  in  the 
statement  of  their  honest  thoughts.  They  were  both 
of  them  specimens  of  minds  that  resisted  the  current 
notions  and  prejudices  of  their  times.  They  both  of  them 
incurred  odium  by  the  Christian  manliness  with  which 
they  opened  and  pursued  the  truths  that  broke  upon 
their  souls.  Their  minds  ran,  it  is  true,  on  very  different 
lines  of  thought,  and  they  advocated  theories  in  morals 
and  in  theology  very  diverse.  But  each  attacked  what  he 
considered  the  leading,  most  prominent  error  of  his  day ; 
and  if  they  were  mistaken  in  respect  to  their  own  times, 
the  errors  which  each  exposed  so  thoroughly  have  pre- 
vailed at  one  period  or  another  of  the  Christian  church. 


54 

Each  of  them  undertook  to  defend  and  illustrate  a 
single  feature  of  the  Gospel,  and  it  was  that  particular 
feature  which  each  supposed  to  be  most  in  danger  of 
being  overlooked  or  undervalued,  amidst  the  peculiar 
prejudices  by  which  he  was  surrounded.  I  have  an 
impression,  my  hearers,  that  a  true  and  rational  and 
comprehensive  theology  might  be  formed,  and  in  no  way 
so  well  as  by  uniting  together,  and  harmonizing,  and 
holding  in  this  union  and.  harmony,  the  two  opposite 
systems  of  thought  and  opinion,  which  Mr.  Wheel- 
wright, on  the  one  hand,  and  Mr.  Briant,  on  the  other 
hand,  held  and  advocated,  each  so  honestly,  fearlessly, 
and  vigorously  ;  and  it  seems  to  me  that  never  more, 
than  in  the  present  age,  was  such  an  union  as  this  desir- 
able. If  Christianity  is  to  be  represented  to  men  as  a 
mere  collection  of  prudential  maxims,  or  a  round  of 
punctilious  observances,  and  if  the  spiritual  character 
of  it,  its  principle  of  faith,  is  to  be  forgotten  and  laid 
aside,  then  surely,  and  in  proportion  as  we  see  cause  to 
fear  this  result,  we  may  take  up  the  language  of  the 
first  preacher  at  the  Mount,  and  say  :  the  time  of  fast- 
ing is  come  ;  the  true  cause  for  a  fast  is  present ;  Christ 
is  removed  ;  the  bridegroom  is  taken  away  ;  and  we 
must  mourn.  And  if,  on  the  other  hand,  the  spiritual 
doctrine  is  to  be  so  exalted,  and  refined  into  such  an 
impalpable  mysticism,  as  to  hide  every  practical  prin- 
ciple, that  ought  to  sway  men's  lives  and  determine 
their  characters,  in  the  clouds  ;  if  the  doctrine  is  to 
be  so  rarefied,  that  we  cannot  breathe  it,  or  if,  when 
we  do  inhale  it,  it  can  support  no  vitality  ;  if  it  is  to 
be  pressed  so  far  as  to  cast  derision  upon  ordinances, 
and  to  discredit  those  institutions  which  have  been 
framed  in  order  to  build  up  and  strengthen  the  moral  and 


55 

religious  habits  and  principles  of  a  community,  —  I  say 
habits  and  principles,  not  instincts  and  impulses ;  —  then 
surely,  with  Mr.  JBriant,  we  shall  be  ready  to  exclaim  in 
his  nervous  language,  that  "  the  perfect  religion  of  Je- 
sus, which  contains  the  most  refined  system  of  morality 
the  world  was  ever  blessed  with  ;  which  everywhere  con- 
siders us  as  moral  agents,  and  suspends  our  whole  hap- 
piness upon  our  personal  good  behavior,  and  our  pa- 
tient continuance  in  the  ways  of  well-doing,  is  turned 
into  an  idle  speculation,  a  mysterious  faith,  and  a 
groundless  recumbency,  everything  but  what  in  fact  it 
is,  a  doctrine  of  sobriety,  righteousness,  and  piety." 

Next  to  Mr.  Briant  was  Mr.  Wibird  *  in  the  order  of 
ministers  of  this  church.  In  the  interval  that  occurred 
between  the  dismission  of  Mr.  Briant  and  the  settle- 
ment of  Mr.  Wibird,  Mr.  Barnes,  afterwards  the  ec- 
centric and  rather  distinguished  Dr.  Barnes  of  Scituate, 
had  received  an  invitation  to  settle  here,  which  he  saw 
fit  to  decline  twice.  Mr.  Wibird's  ministry  was  a  long 
and  a  peaceful  one.  Many  of  my  hearers  must  remem- 
ber him,  and  there  are  probably  many  present,  upon 
whose  infant  brows  he  sprinkled  the  water  of  Christian 
baptism.  The  older  members  of  this  church  will  not 
need  any  attempt  of  mine  to  increase  the  interest, 
which  their  own  vivid  remembrances,  aided  and  height- 
ened by  the  present  occasion,  must  awaken  in  their 
minds. 

In  1800  your  present  senior  pastor  f  was  associated 
with  Mr.  Wibird,  a  short  time  previous  to  his  decease  ; 
and  my  venerable  friend  still  remains,  the  living  link 
that  connects  the  humble  individual,  that  addresses  you, 

#  See  Appendix  R.  f  See  Appendix  S. 


56 

with  the  long  line  of  shepherds  who  have  watched  this 
flock,  and  who,  with  a  single  exception,  gave  up  their 
breath  to  mingle  with  the  air  that  had  supported  their 
life,  and  laid  down  their  dust  to  mingle  with  the  soil  on 
which  they  had  trodden. 

Brethren  and  Fathers,  after  this  sketch  of  the  history 
of  our  church,  which  although  extended  has  not,  I  hope, 
been  tedious,  and  however  imperfect,  not  wholly  uned- 
ifying,  we  are  brought  back  to  our  text.  When  the 
woman  of  Samaria  said  with  so  much  natural  feeling, 
"Our  fathers  worshipped  in  this  mountain,"  and  the 
Saviour  replied,  that  the  time  would  come  when  they 
should  neither  in  that  mountain  nor  yet  at  Jerusa- 
lem worship  the  Father  ;  he  did  not,  I  conceive,  intend 
to  rebuke  the  natural  sentiment  which  attaches  every 
good  heart  to  the  spot,  where  fathers  and  fathers' 
fathers  have  worshipped,  in  their  successive  generations  ; 
but  only  to  correct  and  purify  and  expand  the  sentiment, 
that  it  might  not  degenerate  into  a  superstitious  partial- 
ity for  a  place,  to  the  neglect  of  God's  spiritual  attri- 
butes, and  his  universal  presence.  And  let  the  sentiment, 
so  corrected  and  expanded,  possess  our  minds. 

And  now,  if  I  had  the  power  to  call  up  from  their 
resting  places,  in  yonder  burying  ground,  or  from  more 
distant  spots,  where  two  of  them  lay  down  to  their  final 
repose,  the  bodies  of  the  former  pastors  and  ministers 
of  this  church  ;  and  if  I  could  call  out  of  the  heaven, 
where  we  trust  their  spirits  dwell,  the  immortal  vital- 
ity that  once  quickened  them,  and  could  bring  them  in 
ghostly  procession  up  this  aisle  to  this  altar,  —  what 
think  ye  would  be  the  lessons  that  would  be  uttered 
by  those  ministers  of  Christ  ?  Would  they  not  say  to 
you ;  Preserve  the  institutions  which  we,  in  our  day, 


57 

exhorted  men  to  honor.  Desert  not  the  sanctuary  of 
your  fathers.  Guard  with  vigilant  caution  the  sacred 
places  where  prayer  was  ever  wont  to  be  made.  Above 
all,  reverence  the  vital  principles  of  the  Gospel.  If 
you  must  renounce  our  dogmas,  do  not,  O  do  not  re- 
nounce our  principles.  If  you  cannot  accept  our  creed 
in  every  particular,  because  you  have  faithfully  followed 
the  advice  of  Robinson,  the  great  light  which  we  hon- 
ored and  followed,  do  not,  O  do  not  fall  from  a  life  of 
piety  and  Christian  righteousness.  It  must  not  be. 
I  will  be  assured  that  this  occasion  has  a  meaning  to 
your  souls,  beyond  what  language  can  express.  I  will 
believe  that  a  deep  and  a  holy  interest,  an  interest  which 
nothing  can  destroy,  is  felt  in  this  ancient  church,  where 
your  fathers  came  before  you,  to  receive  the  bread  of 
life,  and  to  draw  water  from  the  wells  of  salvation. 

And,  in  conclusion,  may  I  not  say  (and  will  you  not, 
one  and  all,  join  me  in  the  sentiment  ?)  to  those  depart- 
ed shepherds  whose  repose  I  have,  in  idea,  disturbed : 
Go  back  venerated  shades,  to  the  quiet  chambers,  where 
the  hands  of  affection  laid  you  silently  and  hopefully 
down ;  —  we  will  strive  to  follow  in  your  steps ;  and 
we  will  hope  to  share  with  you  your  glory. 


*  See  Appendix  T. 
8 


APPENDIX 


APPENDIX. 


A.     Page  7. 

On  the  29th  of  September,  1839,  which  date  answered  to  Sept. 
17,  old  style,  occurred  the  Two  Hundredth  Anniversary  of  the 
gathering  of  the  First  Congregational  Church  in  this  place.  The 
occasion,  falling  on  a  Sabbath,  was  noticed  with  appropriate  ser- 
vices, both  parts  of  the  day.  The  prayer  in  the  forenoon  was 
offered  by  the  senior  pastor  of  the  church,  Rev.  Peter  "Whitney ; 
and  in  the  afternoon,  by  Rev.  George  Whitney  of  Roxbury.  By  a 
special  vole  of  the  Church,  passed  on  a  previous  Sabbath,  the  Com- 
munion, which  would  have  taken  place  regularly  on  the  first  Sab- 
bath in  October,  was  celebrated  at  this  time,  in  imitation  of  the 
course  pursued  by  our  predecessors,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  first 
century.  In  the  forenoon  the  following  Hymn,  written  for  the  oc- 
casion by  the  Hon.  John  Quincy  Adams,  was  sung  by  the  choir. 

THE    HOUR    GLASS. 

Alas !  how  swift  the  moments  fly ! 

How  flash  the  years  along ! 
Scarce  here,  yet  gone  already  by ! 

The  burden  of  a  song. 
See  childhood,  youth,  and  manhood  pass ; 

And  age  with  furrowed  brow : 
Time  was  —  Time  shall  be,  drain  the  glass  — 

But  where  in  Time  is  noiv? 

Time  is  the  measure  but  of  change ; 

No  present  hour  is  found, 
The  past  — the  future  fill  the  range 

Of  Time's  unceasing  round. 
Where  then  is  now  ?     In  realms  above, 

With  God's  atoning  Lamb, 
In  regions  of  eternal  Love, 

Where  sits  enthroned  I  Am. 


62 

Then,  Pilgrim,  let  thy  joys  and  tears 

On  Time  no  longer  lean ; 
But  henceforth  all  thy  hopes  and  fears 

From  Earth's  affections  wean. 
To  God  !  let  votive  accents  rise ; 

With  truth  —  with  virtue  live ; 
So  all  the  bliss  that  Time  denies, 

Eternity  shall  give. 

The  two  Psalms  that  follow  were  sung  in  the  afternoon.  In  se- 
lecting them  it  was  thought  that  the  interest  attaching  to  them 
as  relics  of  old  times  would  more  than  compensate  for  the  rude- 
ness of  the  versification.  They  were  taken  from  a  copy,  bearing 
date  1640,  (kindly  furnished  me  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Harris  from  the 
Library  of  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,)  of  the  New  England 
version  of  the  Psalms.  This  was  the  first  hook  printed  in  America. 
And  this  version  of  the  Psalms  was,  doubtless,  used  by  the  Brain- 
tree  church  soon  after  it  was  gathered. 

Psalm  107.     Tune  —  St.  Martin's. 

O  give  ye  thanks  unto  the  Lord, 

Because  that  good  is  he; 
Because  his  loving-kindness  lasts 

To  perpetuity. 

So  let  the  Lord's  redeem'd  say  ;  whom 

He  freed  from  th'  enemies  hands ; 
And  gather'd  them  from  East  and  West, 

From  South  and  Northern  lands. 

Then  did  they  to  Jehovah  cry, 

When  they  were  in  distress  ; 
Who  did  them  set  at  liberty 

Out  of  their  anguishes. 

In  such  a  way  that  was  most  right 

He  led  them  forth  also  ; 
That  to  a  city  which  they  might 

Inhabit  they  might  go. 

O  that  men  would  Jehovah  praise 

For  his  great  goodness  then; 
And  for  his  workings  wonderful 

Unto  the  sons  of  men. 


63 


Psalm  102.     Tune  —  Old  Hundred. 

My  days  as  shadows  that  decline, 

And  like  the  wither'd  grass  am  I ; 
But  thou,  Lord,  dost  abide  for  aye, 

And  thy  name  to  eternity. 

Thy  years  throughout  all  ages  are, 

Thou  hast  the  Earth's  foundation  laid 
For  elder  time :  and  heavens  be 

The  work  which  thine  own  hands  have  made. 

They  perish  shall,  but  thou  shalt  stand ; 

They  all  as  garments  shall  decay ; 
And  as  a  wearing-vestiment, 

Thou  shalt  them  change,  and  chang'd  are  they. 

But  thou  art  ev'n  the  same ;  thy  years 

They  never  shall  consumed  be  ; 
Thy  servants'  children  shall  abide, 

And  their  seed,  'stablish'd  before  thee. 

The  last  of  these  Psalms  was  read  and  sung,  line  by  line,  accord- 
ing to  the  ancient  practice.  The  writer  feels  greatly  indebted  to 
the  choir  for  their  kind  compliance  with  his  suggestions  in  regard 
to  the  music,  on  this  occasion,  and  for  their  very  excellent  perfor- 
mances both  parts  of  the  day. 


B.     Pases  7,  38. 


The  names  subscribed  to  the  covenant  at  the  gathering  of  the 
church  are  as  follow  : 

William  Tompson,  (Pastor,) 
Henry  Flynt,  {Teacher,) 
George  Rose, 
Stephen  Kinsley,  (Elder,) 
John  Dassett, 
William  Potter, 
Martin  Saunders, 
Gregory  Belcher. 


64 

C.     Pages  16,  42. 

Mr.  Savage,  in  his  valuable  edition  of  Winthrop's  New  England, 
gives  it  as  his  opinion,  but  without  stating  his  reasons  for  the 
opinion,  that  the  settlement  at  Mount  Wollaston,  which  had  been 
made  by  Captain  Wollaston  in  16*25,  "  was  permanent,  though 
the  high  authority  of  Governor  Dudley's  Narrative  makes  it  vanish; 
and  if  permanent,  must  be  considered  the  oldest  of  Massachusetts 
colony,  unless  Weymouth  should  assert  a  claim  of  vitality  through 
its  state  of  suspended  animation." 

I  will  endeavor  to  present  some  reasons  for  this  opinion,  although 
I  cannot  but  regret  that  this  was  omitted  by  the  learned  Editor, 
who  would  have  done  so  much  more  justice  to  the  subject.  It  will 
be  remembered,  that  after  Wollaston  had  left  his  new  plantation  and 
gone  to  the  South,  Thomas  Morton  assumed  the  chief  authority, 
and  occasioned  great  trouble  to  the  neighboring  settlers.  In  1628  an 

o  too 

armed  force  was  raised  against  him  ;  he  was  arrested,  and  sent  out  of 
the  country,  and  according  to  Gov.  Dudley,  the  settlement  at  Mount 
Wollaston  came  to  an  end,  and  disappeared.  It  will  also  be  borne 
in  mind,  that,  in  Sept.  3,  1634,  it  was  ordered  by  the  General  Court, 
"that  Boston  shall  have  enlargement  at  Mount  Wollaston  and  Rum- 
ney  Marsh."  The  only  question  then  is,  whether  during  the  six 
years  that  intervened  from  1628  to  1634,  there  were  settlers  who 
continued  in  this  place. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  mention  here  that  the  island,  which  once 
belonged  to  this  town,  called  Thomson's  Island,  was  taken  posses- 
sion of  by  one  David  Thomson,  in  the  year  1626.*"  He  died  soon 
after,  leaving  a  son  and  heir,  John  Thomson,  who,  as  soon  as  he 
came  of  age,  presented  a  petition  to  the  General  Court,  and  had 
the  property  in  the  island  confirmed  to  him  and  his  heirs  forever. 

Johnson,  in  his  Wonder-working  Providence,  says:  "To  the 
south-east  of  him  (Mr.  Wm.  Blackstone)  near  an  island  called 
Thomson's  Island,  lived  some  few  planters  more;  these  persons 
were  the  first  planters  of  those  parts,  having  some  small  trading 
with  the  Indians  for  beaver-skins,  which  moved  them  to  make  their 
abode  in  those  parts,  whom  these  first  troops  of  Christ's  army"  (that 
is,  Gov.  Winthrop's  company)  "  found  as  fit  helps  to  further  their 
work."  f     And   again  the  same   author  :  "  Near   about   this   town 

*  Mass.  Colony  Records.  t  Johnson,  p.  37. 


65 

(Dorchester)  inhabited  some  few  ancient  Traders,  who  were  not  of 
this  select  band,  but  came  for  other  ends,  as  Morton  of  Merry 
Mount."  *  Prince,  in  his  Chronology,  too,  in  speaking  of  the  state 
of  the  neighboring  parts  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  when  Governor 
Winthrop's  company  arrived,  and  began  their  settlement  at  Boston, 
uses  almost  the  same  terms  in  relation  to  the  "planters  near  Thom- 
son's Island."  The  question  occurs,  Who  were  those  planters 
to  whom  he  alludes  1  There  had  been  a  plantation  at  Nantasket  as 
early  as  that  date,  and  one  also  at  Weymouth,  (Wessagussett.)  But 
Mount  Wollaston  was  nearer  to  Thomson's  Island  than  either  of 
those  two  places.  And  a  probable  inference  may  be  drawn  from 
thence,  that  the  settlement  at  the  Mount,  begun  by  Wollaston,  was 
permanent;  that  some  of  his  company  remained  here  after  Morton 
was  expelled  in  1628;  that  these  continued  in  this  place  down  to 
the  time  when  Mount  Wollaston  was,  by  order  of  court,  annexed 
to  Boston  ;  and  that  they  were  the  old  planters  referred  to  by  John- 
son, when  he  says  ;  "  About  this  time  (1640)  there  was  a  town  and 
church  planted  at  Mount  Wollaston  and  named  Braintree;  it  was 
occasioned  by  some  old  planters,  and  certain  farmers  belonging  to 
the  great  town  of  Boston." 

Furthermore,  in  the  Massachusetts  Colony  Records  I  find,  under 
date  of  Nov.  7,  1632,  "  100  acres  of  land  granted  to  Mr.  Roger 
Ludlow,  to  enjoy  to  him  and  his  heirs  forever,  lying  betwixt  Mus- 
quantum  Chapel  and  the  mouth  of  Naponsett." 

Again,  a  book  called  "  New  England's  Prospect,"  f  written  by 
Mr.  Wood,  and  printed  in  London  in  the  year  1639,  gives  the  fol- 
lowing description  of  Mount  Wollaston:  —  "  Three  miles  to  the 
north  of  this  (Wessagussett)  is  Mount  Wolliston,  a  very  fertile  soil, 
and  a  place  very  convenient  for  farmers'  houses,  there  being  great 
store  of  plain  ground,  without  trees.  Near  this  place  is  Massachu- 
setts fields,  where  the  greatest  Sagamore  in  the  country  lived,  be- 
fore the  plague,  who  caused  it  to  be  cleared  for  himself."  After 
describing  several  other  plantations,  the  same  writer  concludes  in 
these  words ;  "  These  be  all  the  towns  that  were  begun,  when  I 
came  for  England,  which  was  the  15th  of  August,  1633."  From 
which  it  appears,  that  so  early  as  1633,  that  is,  a  year  at  least  before 
the  Mount  was  granted  by  the  General  Court  to  be  a  part  of  Boston, 

*  Johnson,  p.  41.  i   Page  31. 

9 


66 

the  pJace  was  so  much  occupied  and  improved,  as  to  deserve  to  be 
mentioned  by  a  traveller,  as  one  of  the  plantations  of  the  country. 

The  Hon.  John  Quincy  Adams  gives  it  as  his  opinion,  "  that  the 
Braintree  company,  mentioned  by  Winthrop  in  1632,  as  having 
begun  to  settle  at  Mount  Wollaston,  did  not  remove  to  Newtown, 
or  at  least  remained,  most  of  them,  where  they  had  begun  to  settle. 
That  they  were  the  old  planters  mentioned  by  the  Wonder-working 
Providence,  and  that  it  was  at  their  solicitation  that  the  name, 
Braintree,  the  place  in  England,  whence  they  came,  was  given  to 
the  town."  *  I  have  already  stated  who  are  meant,  in  my  opinion, 
by  the  phrase  old  planters  in  Johnson.  With  respect  to  the  ques- 
tion, whether  the  Braintree  company  removed  hence  to  Newtown, 
or  continued  here,  where  they  first  sat  down,  the  following  remarks 
are  offered.  "  The  Braintree  company,  which  had  begun  to  sit 
down  at  Mount  Wollaston,  by  order  of  court,  removed  to  Newtown." 
Such  is  Gov.  Winthrop's  testimony.  And  that  the  company  did 
actually  remove  thither  is  positively  asserted  by  Dr.  Holmes,  who, 
in  his  History  of  Cambridge,!  (at  first  called  Newtown,)  gives  the 
names  of  that  company.  Among  the  names  contained  in  his  list 
are  the  following,  namely,  Jeremy  Adams,  John  Pratt,  Nathaniel 
Richards,  Wm.  Wadsworth,  Richard  Webb,  John  White ;  names 
which,  at  the  present  day,  are  familiar  in  this  and  the  neighboring 
towns.  But  in  September  of  1634,  the  General  Court  was  occupied 
with  the  application,  made  by  Mr.  Hooker  and  his  friends,  for  per- 
mission to  remove  from  Newtown  to  Connecticut  River,  they  com- 
plaining of  want  of  room.  It  seems  there  was  at  first  considerable 
opposition  to  this  application.  The  difficulty  was  removed  for  a 
time  by  "the  congregation  of  Newtown  coming  and  accepting 
such  enlargement  as  had  formerly  been  offered  them  by  Boston  and 
Watertown."  My  conjecture  is,  that  at  this  time  some  of  the 
original  settlers  of  Newtown,  belonging  to  the  Braintree  company, 
so  called,  accepted  lands  of  Boston  at  Mount  Wollaston,  especially 
as  it  was  about  this  time  that  Boston  had  been  enlarged  by  the 
court  at  Mount  Wollaston,  and  as  one  of  the  chief  subjects  of 
complaint  alleged  by  the  Newtown  settlers  was  "  their  want  of  ac- 

*  See  Family  Memorial,  by  Elisha  Thayer,  for  a  letter  to  the  author  by 
Hon.  Mr.  Adams,   pp.  39,  40. 
t  Holmes's  History  of  Cambridge,  in  Mass.  Historical  Collections. 


67 

commodation  for  their  cattle."  The  Braintree  company  appears  to 
have  been  divided  in  1634.  A  portion  of  them,  according  to  the 
supposition  stated  above,  received  grants  of  land  at  Mount  Wollas- 
ton,  and  these  gave  the  name  of  Braintree  to  the  place,  when  after- 
wards it  was  incorporated  as  a  town ;  —  and  the  other  division  of 
the  company  subsequently  journeyed  to  the  Connecticut  River,  and 
laid  the  foundations  of  Hartford. 


D.     Page  19. 


John  Wheelwright,  the  founder  and  first  minister  of  Exeter, 
came  from  Lincolnshire,  in  England,  and  arrived  at  Boston,  26  May, 
1636.*  It  was  for  a  long  time  taken  for  granted,  that  Wheelwright's 
first  coming  to  this  country  was  earlier  than  the  date  mentioned 
above,  upon  the  strength  of  a  Deed  purporting  to  have  been  given 
by  four  Indian  Sachems,  17  May,  1629,  by  which  they  convey 
lands,  within  the  bounds  of  what  is  now  New  Hampshire,  to  one 
Mr.  John  Wheelwright,  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  and  to  his  asso- 
ciates, upon  certain  specified  conditions.  Belknap  inserted  this 
Indian  Deed  in  the  Appendix  to  his  History  of  New  Hampshire, 
and  regarded  it  as  genuine.  It  has  been  shown,  by  Mr.  Savage,  in 
his  edition  ofWinthrop's  Journal,  not  to  be  genuine.  For  the 
clear  and  conclusive  reasoning  by  which  the  spuriousness  of  the 
document  is  made  out,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  Appendix  to 
Savage's  Winthrop,  Vol.  I.  p.  405.  Wheelwright's  first  coming  to 
this  country,  then,  was  in  1636.  I  find  in  the  Records  of  the  First 
Church,  Boston,  that  "  John  Wheelwright  and  Mary  his  wife  were 
admitted  members  the  12th  day  of  the  4th  month,  1636."  In  the 
same  Records  is  also  the  following  entry :  "  The  30th  of  the  8th 
month,  1636.  Our  brother  Mr.  John  Wheelwright  was  granted 
unto  for  the  preparing  for  a  church  gathering  at  Mount  Wollystone 
upon  a  petition  from  some  of  them  that  were  resident  there." 

Under  date  of  1636,  Aug.  24,  we  find  the  following  in  Winthrop's 
Journal :  "  The  inhabitants  of  Boston,   who  had  taken  their  farms 

*  Farmer's  Geneal.  Reg. 


68 

and  lots  at  Mount  Wollaston,  finding  it  very  burdensome  to  have 
their  business  so  far  off,  desired  to  gather  a  church  there.  Many 
meetings  were  about  it.  The  great  let  was,  in  regard  it  was  given 
to  Boston  for  upholding  the  town  and  church  there,  which  end 
would  be  frustrate  by  the  removal  of  so  many  chief  men  as  would 
go  thither.  For  helping  of  this,  it  was  propounded,  that  such  as 
dwelt  there  should  pay  sixpence  the  acre,  yearly,  for  such  lands  as 
lay  within  a  mile  of  the  water,  and  three  pence  for  that  which  lay 
further  off." 

There  was  a  grant  of  land  made  to  Mr.  Wheelwright,  at  the 
Mount,  which  is  thus  recorded  in  the  Old  Records  of  the  Town  of 
Boston. 

"The  2— th  of  the  12th  mo.  1636.  — At  a  meeting  this  day  of 
Thomas  Oliver  and  the  other  overseers,  it  is  agreed  that  our  brother 
Mr.  John  Wheelwright  shall  have  an  allotment  of  250  acres  laid 
out  for  him  at  Mount  Wollaston,  where  may  be  most  convenient, 
without  prejudice  to  setting  up  of  a  town  there,  to  be  laid  out  by 
Mr.  Coddington  and  our  brother  Wright." 

And  afterwards  the  following  :  —  "3d  of  2d  mo.  1637.  Allot- 
ment of  250  acres  to  John  Wheelwright  by  W.  Coddington  and  our 
brother  Richard  Wright  thus ;  viz.  40  acres  thereof  in  the  sunk 
marsh  lying  South  and  by  East  of  the  land  of  the  said  W.  Coddington 
—  5  acres  for  his  house  lot,  and  205  acres  at  the  end  of  it,  running 
with  one  side  of  the  first  lot,  and  the  line  of  20  acres  of  the  plant- 
ing ground  allotted  to  be  extended  into  the  country  till  his  full  pro- 
portion of  205  acres  between  these  two  lines  be  run  out." 

Mrs.  Hutchinson  had  already  broached  her  new  opinions,  and 
was  favored,  in  the  promulgation  of  them,  by  her  brother,  Mr. 
Wheelwright,  by  Mr.  Vane,  then  governor  of  the  colony,  and  by 
other  prominent  persons ;  and  it  seems  to  have  been  on  account  of 
these  opinions,  that  Cotton  and  Winthrop  objected  to  the  proposal 
to  retain  Mr.  Wheelwright  as  one  of  the  ministers  of  Boston  First 
Church.  An  alarm  had  spread  through  the  colony,  and  in  the 
month  before,  that  is,  October,  Winthrop  informs  us,  that  "  the 
ministers  of  the  Bay  assemble  in  Boston  to  inquire  respecting 
Wheelwright's  and  Mrs.  Hutchinson's  new  opinions." 

On  the  20th  of  January,  1636-7,  on  occasion  of  a  fast  which 
had  been  appointed  by  the  public  authorities,  Mr.  Wheelwright 
preached  his  famous  sermon,  which  occasioned  finally  his  expulsion 


69 

from  the  colony.  A  perfect  copy  of  this  sermon,  in  a  modern 
hand,  exists  in  the  archives  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society  ; 
as  well  as  a  fragment,  containing  about  three  fourths  of  the  sermon, 
in  a  more  ancient  handwriting.  Of  this  fragment  Mr.  Savage  says, 
that  it  is  "  probably  original."  But  from  a  note  on  one  of  the 
blank  leaves  of  the  manuscript,  which  informs  that  "  it  was  left  in 
the  hand  of  Mr.  John  Coggeshall,  who  was  a  deacon  of  the  church 
in  Boston  ; "  it  may  be  inferred  that  it  is  not  original,  but  that  it 
was  copied  by,  and  is  in  the  handwriting  of  Mr.  Coggeshall,  a  sup- 
porter of  Wheelwright,  and  one  who  was  banished  for  his  adherence 
to  that  gentleman. 

I  have  said  in  the  text,  that  I  suppose  this  sermon  was  delivered 
at  Mount  Wollaston.  My  reason  for  this  assertion  was,  that  Wheel- 
wright had  already,  as  has  been  shown,  received  authority  to  minis- 
ter to  the  church  gathering  at  the  Mount ;  and  there  occurred  to 
me  no  reason  for  doubting,  that  the  sermon  would  be  delivered  at 
the  place  where  he  ordinarily  preached.  It  is  true,  that  on  the  old 
manuscript  is  written,  that  the  sermon  was  preached  in  Boston. 
This,  however,  is  not  decisive  of  the  point,  because  Mount  Wollas- 
ton was,  at  that  time,  a  part  of  Boston.  A  stronger  objection  to  my 
assertion  is  a  passage  in  Welde's  Tract  entitled  —  "  Rise,  Reign,  and 
Ruin  of  the  Antinomians" — printed  in  1644.  "That  upon  the 
said  Fast  (Mr.  Wheelwright  being  desired  by  the  Church  to  exer- 
cise as  a  private  brother  by  way  of  prophecy)  when  Mr.  Cotton 
teaching  in  the  afternoon  out  of  Esa.  58.  4,  had  showed  that  it 
was  not  a  fit  work  for  a  day  of  fast,  to  move  strife  and  debate,  &c.  ; 
yet  Mr.  Wheelwright,  speaking  after  him,  taught  as  is  here  before 
mentioned,"  &,c.  If  this  is  to  be  taken  literally,  and  not  as  the 
description  given  by  a  bitter  opponent,  who  was  seeking  to  make 
out  a  strong  case  against  Wheelwright,  it  may  still  be  supposed,  that 
the  sermon  had  been  delivered  to  his  own  congregation  at  the 
Mount,  and  then  the  substance  of  it  repeated  in  the  Boston  First 
Church  in  the  afternoon.  I  am  somewhat  confirmed  in  this  con- 
jecture by  the  date  of  the  grant  of  land  made  to  Wheelwright,  3d 
of  April,  1637.  When  the  sermon  was  delivered,  therefore,  Mr. 
Wheelwright,  as  we  must  infer,  had  no  house  at  the  Mount,  and 
would,  on  that  account,  be  more  likely  to  preach  one  part  of  the 
day  there,  and  the  other  part  in  the  First  Church. 

It  cannot  be  pretended,  that  Wheelwright  never  preached  at  all 


70 


at  the  Mount,  because  all  the  early  historians  agree  in  their  testimo- 
ny that  he  did. 

Under  date  of  May  24,  1637,  Winthrop  says;  "  The  former  gov- 
ernor and  Mr.  Coddington,  being  discontented  that  the  people 
had  left  them  out  of  all  public  service,  gave  further  proof  of  it  in 
the  congregation  ;  for  they  refused  to  sit  in  the  magistrates'  seat, 
(where  Mr.  Vane  had  always  sitten  from  his  first  arrival,)  and  went 
and  sate  with  the  deacons,  although  the  governor  sent  to  desire 
them  to  come  in  to  him.  And  upon  the  day  of  the  general  fast, 
they  went  from  Boston  to  keep  the  day  at  the  Mount  with  Mr. 
Wheelwright." 

The  Fast  here  mentioned  was,  doubtless,  subsequent  to  the  one 
upon  which  Wheelwright's  sermon  was  delivered.  But  the  extract 
proves  that  he  ministered  here,  and  if  he  preached  on  this  occasion 
at  the  Mount,  why  not  on  the  fast  which  occured  four  months  be- 
fore ? 

I  shall  mention  but  one  more  authority  out  of  many  that  exist, 
to  prove  that  Mr.  Wheelwright  actually  preached,  for  some  time, 
at  the  Mount :  it  is  Welde,  in  his  History  of  Antinomianism.  He 
relates  an  incident  that  "  fell  out  at  Mr.  Wheelwright  his  farewell  to 
those  whom  he  used  to  preach  unto  at  the  Mount."  Gov.  Winthrop 
and  Mr.  Welde  were  contemporaries  with  Mr.  Wheelwright,  and 
of  course  their  testimony  as  to  the  point  under  consideration  is 
conclusive. 

But  perhaps  too  much  space  has  been  devoted  to  the  ques- 
tion where  this  sermon  was  delivered.  It  is  more  curious  than 
important,  after  all.  To  illustrate  the  character  of  the  sermon,  I 
have  given  two  extracts  from  it  in  another  place,  and  have  endeav- 
ored to  explain  the  leading  idea  of  the  sermon.  For  the  conse- 
quences that  resulted  from  it,  we  are  informed  by  Winthrop  that, 
at  the  court  which  began,  March  9,  1636-7,  Mr.  Wheelwright  was 
adjudged  "  guilty  of  sedition,  and  also  of  contempt."  Sentence 
was  deferred,  however.  There  followed  remonstrances  and  petitions 
from  the  governor  (Mr.  Vane)  and  other  dissenters,  as  well  as 
from  the  Boston  First  Church,  justifying  the  sermon,  and  con- 
demning the  court's  proceedings.  A  synod  was  also  convened, 
consisting  of  all  the  ministers  of  the  colony,  by  whom  the  theologi- 
cal questions  involved  in  the  controversy  were  discussed.  This 
assembly   terminated    unfavorably    for    Mr.   Wheelwright.     In    the 


71 

mean  time  a  political  revolution  had  been  effected.  Vane  and  Cod- 
dington,  friends  of  Wheelwright,  had  been  left  out  of  the  offices 
they  had  previously  held.  At  length,  "the  General  Court  being 
assembled  in  the  2d  of  the  9th  month,  and  finding,  upon  consulta- 
tion, that  two  so  opposite  parties  could  not  continue  in  the  same 
body,  without  apparent  hazard  of  ruin  to  the  whole,  agreed  to  send 
away  some  of  the  principal,  &c.  Then  the  Court  sent  for  Mr. 
Wheelwright,  and  he  persisting  to  justify  his  sermon,  and  his 
whole  practice  and  opinions,  and  refusing  to  leave  either  the  place 
or  his  public  exercisings,  he  was  disfranchised  and  banished. 
Upon  which  he  appealed  to  the  king,  but  neither  called  witnesses, 
nor  desired  any  act  to  be  made  of  it.  The  Court  told  him,  that  an 
appeal  did  not  lie ;  for  by  the  king's  grant  we  had  power  to  hear 
and  determine  without  any  reservation,  &,c.  So  he  relinquished 
his  appeal,  and  the  Court  gave  him  leave  to  go  to  his  house,  upon 
his  promise,  that,  if  he  were  not  gone  out  of  our  jurisdiction 
within  fourteen  days,  he  would  render  himself  to  one  of  the  magis- 
trates." * 

The  latter  part  of  November,  1637,  was,  therefore,  the  time 
when  Wheelwright  left  the  Massachusetts  jurisdiction.  His  friends 
and  adherents,  who  were  banished  at  the  same  time,  went  to  the 
south,  and  purchasing  the  island  of  Aquetneck  from  the  natives, 
began  the  separate  colony  of  Rhode  Island.  They  were  solicitous 
that  he  should  join  them  ;  but  he  bent  his  steps  in  a  different  di- 
rection, and  sitting  down  at  the  Falls  of  the  Piscataqua,  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  town  of  Exeter,  one  of  the  earliest  settlements 
in  New  Hampshire.  In  the  Boston  First  Church  Records  is  the 
following  :  "  Mr.  John  Wheelwright  dismissed  with  eight  others  to 
the  church  at  the  Falls  of  Paschataqua  11th  mo.  6dl  1638."  There 
he  remained,  until,  in  1642,  according  to  Belknap,  "  the  inhabitants 
of  Exeter,  finding  themselves  comprehended  within  the  claim  of 
Massachusetts,  petitioned  the  Court,  and  were  readily  admitted 
(Sept.  8.)  under  their  jurisdiction.  And  they  were  annexed  to  the 
county  of  Essex.  Upon  this,  Wheelwright,  who  was  still  under 
sentence  of  banishment,  with  those  of  his  church  who  were  resolved 
to  adhere  to  him,  removed  into  the  province  of  Maine,  and  settled 
at  Wells." 

*  Winthrop. 


72 

In  1643,  Sept.  10,  Mr.  Wheelwright  wrote  to  Gov.  Winthrop  a 
letter,  in  which  he  confessed  that  he  had  pressed  his  theological 
views  too  far,  and  urged  them  with  an  undue  warmth,  and  upon 
this,  his  sentence  of  banishment  was  soon  after  released.  Being 
restored  to  the  freedom  of  the  colony,  he  removed  to  Hampton, 
where  he  ministered  many  years.  In  the  year  1658,  according  to 
Farmer,  he  was  in  England,  and  was  in  favor  with  the  Protector. 
Cromwell  and  he  are  said  to  have  been  school-fellows;  and  the 
anecdote  has  been  handed  down,  that  Cromwell  declared  Wheel- 
wright to  be  the  only  person  he  ever  was  afraid  of  at  football. 
Upon  the  fall  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  the  restoration  of  the 
royal  government  in  England,  Wheelwright  returned,  and  settled  at 
Salisbury,  and  there  died,  15  Nov.  1679.  "  He  lived,"  says  Hutch- 
inson, "  to  be  the  oldest  minister  in  the  colony,  which  would  have 
been  taken  notice  of,  if  his  persecutors  had  not  remained  in  power." 
Mr.  Wheelwright,  according  to  the  same  authority,  was  "  several 
years  in  England,  and  lived  in  the  neighborhood  of  Sir  Henry 
Vane,  who  had  been  his  patron  in  New  England,  and  now  took 
great  notice  of  him.  Vane  being  disaffected  to  Cromwell,  it  is  not 
likely  that  Cromwell  had  any  great  esteem  for  Wheelwright ;  yet  he 
sent  for  him  by  one  of  his  guard,  and  after  a  very  orthodox  dis- 
course, according  to  Mr.  Wheelwright's  apprehensions  of  orthodoxy, 
'  and  without  showing  countenance  to  sectaries,'  he  exhorted  him 
to  perseverance  against  his  opposers,  and  assured  him  their  notions 
would  vanish  into  nothing.  This  meeting  effectually  engaged  Mr. 
Wheelwright  in  Cromwell's  favor." 


E.     Page  21. 


Mrs.  Ann  Hutchinson,  who  caused  such  an  excitement  in  the 
colony,  came  over  to  this  country  in  September,  1634.  Her  hus- 
band, Wm.  Hutchinson,  had  a  grant  of  land  made  to  him  at  Mount 
Wollaston.  She  is  described  by  Welde,  in  his  book  against  the 
Antinomians,  as  "  a  woman  of  a  haughty  and  fierce  carriage,  of  a 
nimble  wit  and  active  spirit,  and  a  very  voluble  tongue,  more  bold 


73 

than  a  man,  though  in  understanding  and  judgment  inferior  to 
many  women."  But  Welde  was  a  Puritan,  and  therefore  devoid 
of  gallantry ;  and  a  bigot,  and  therefore  without  charity.  Soon 
after  she  came  into  the  country,  she  established  meetings  at  her 
house,  which  were  attended  by  persons  of  her  own  sex,  at 
which  the  sermons  of  the  previous  Sabbath  were  criticised,  the 
performances  of  the  different  ministers  of  the  neighborhood  com- 
pared, and  points  in  theology  discussed.  The  consequence  was, 
that  the  colony  was  divided  into  two  parties,  whose  relative  strength 
was  tested  at  the  polls.  Gov.  Vane  lost  his  election,  and  soon 
after  returned  to  England  ;  and  Mrs.  Hutchinson  and  her  adherents 
were  banished  from  the  colony.  Winthrop  informs  us,  that,  after 
sentence  of  banishment  had  been  pronounced  by  the  court  against 
her,  "  she  went  by  water  to  her  farm  at  the  Mount,  where  she  was 
to  take  water,  with  Mr.  Wheelwright's  wife  and  family,  to  go  to 
Pascataquack ;  but  she  changed  her  mind,  and  went  by  land  to 
Providence,  and  so  to  the  island  in  the  Narraganset  Bay,  which  her 
husband  and  the  rest  of  that  sect  had  purchased  of  the  Indians, 
and  prepared  with  all  speed  to  remove  into."  Her  fate  was  a 
melancholy  one.  Her  husband  having  died  in  1642,  she  removed 
from  Rhode  Island  into  the  Dutch  country,  and  was  killed  by  the 
Indians,  with  all  her  children,  except  one  daughter,  who  was  carried 
into  captivity. 


F.     Page  22. 

"  Wm.  Coddincton,  Esq.,  the  munificent  donor  of  our  school 
lands,  which  now  rent  at  ,£142,  from  which  this  town  has  reaped 
great  benefit  in  good  schools  for  many  years  past."  *  Mr.  Hancock 
speaks  in  this  manner  of  one  who  deserves  to  be  remembered  by 
the  inhabitants  of  this  place.  Mr.  Coddington  came  to  this  coun- 
try with  Gov.  Winthrop,  and  was  a  man  of  high  respectability  and 

*  Hancock's  Century  Discourse.  The  income  of  the  school  lands,  which 
Mr.  Hancock  puts  at  £142,  sounds  large.  But  it  must  be  remembered,  that 
New  England  paper  money  had  depreciated  very  much. 

10 


74 

good  estate.  He  and  the  first  Edmund  Quincy  were  among  the  first 
who  received  grants  of  land  at  this  place,  when  Mount  Wollaston, 
as  it  was  called,  formed  part  of  the  town  of  Boston.  Mr.  Codding- 
ton's  grant  comprised  what  is  now  known  by  the  name  of  the  Mount 
Wollaston  Farm,  at  present  belonging  to  the  Hon.  John  Quincy 
Adams. 

In  the  first  Book  of  Braintree  Town  Records  is  a  deed  of  land 
conveyed  from  Wm.  Coddington,  Esq.  to  the  town  of  Braintree. 
The  earliest  notice  I  find  of  the  application  of  the  school  fund  is 
in  the  following  vote. 

"  Feb.  1668.  That  the  town  of  Braintree  did  consent  to  lay  the 
school  land,  that  is  to  say,  the  annual  income  of  it,  for  a  salary  for 
a  school-master,  and  to  make  it  up  ,£20  besides  what  every  child 
must  give."  Mr.  Benjamin  Tompson,  son  of  the  first  pastor,  was 
the  earliest  schoolmaster  I  can  find  mention  of  in  this  place. 

In  the  Dedication  to  Callender's  Century  Discourse,  addressed  to 
the  Hon.  Wm.  Coddington,  Esq.,  there  is  the  following  notice  of 
the  friend  of  Wheelwright,  and  the  founder  of  the  Commonwealth 
of  Rhode  Island. 

"  Your  honored  grandfather,  William  Coddington,  Esq.,  was 
chosen  in  England  to  be  an  assistant  of  the  colony  of  the 
Massachsetts  Bay,  A.  D.  1629,  and  in  1630  came  over  to  New 
England  with  the  Governor  and  the  Charter,  &c. ;  after  which 
he  was  several  times  rechosen  to  that  honorable  and  important 
office.  He  was  for  some  time  treasurer  of  the  colony.  He  was 
with  the  chiefest  in  all  public  charges,  '  and  a  principal  merchant 
in  Boston,'  where  he  built  the  first  brick  house. 

"  In  the  year  1637,  when  the  contentions  ran  so  high  in  the  coun- 
try, he  was  grieved  at  the  proceedings  of  the  court  against  Mr. 
Wheelwright  and  others.  And  when  he  found  that  his  opposition 
to  those  measures  was  ineffectual,  he  entered  his  protest,  '  that  his 
dissent  might  appear  to  succeeding  times ' ;  and  though  he  was  in 
the  fairest  way  to  be  great,  in  the  Massachusetts,  as  to  outward 
things,  yet  he  voluntarily  quitted  his  advantageous  situation  at 
Boston,  his  large  property  and  his  improvements  at  Braintree,*  for 
peace'  sake,  and  that  he  might  befriend,  protect,  and  assist  the 
pious  people,  who  were  meditating  a  removal  from  that  colony,  on 
account  of  their  religious  differences. 

*  Then  Mount  Wollaston. 


75 

"  Here,  when  the  people  first  incorporated  themselves  a  body  poli- 
tic on  this  island,  they  chose  him  to  be  their  judge  or  chief  ruler, 
and  continued  to  elect  him  annually  to  be  their  governor  for  seven 
years  together,  till  the  patent  took  place,  and  the  island  was  incor- 
porated with  Providence  Plantations. 

"In  the  year  1647,  he  assisted  in  forming  the  body  of  laws,  which 
has  been  the  basis  of  our  constitution  aud  government  ever  since  ; 
and  the  next  year  being  chosen  governor  of  the  colony,  declined 
the  office. 

"In  1651,  he  had  a  commission  from  the  supreme  authority  then 
in  England,  to  be  governor  of  the  island,  pursuant  to  a  power  re- 
served in  the  patent ;  but  the  people  being  jealous  '  the  commission 
might  affect  their  lands  and  liberties,  as  secured  to  them  by  the 
patent,'  he  readily  laid  it  down  on  the  first  notice  from  England 
that  he  might  do  so ;  and  for  their  further  satisfaction  and  content- 
ment, he,  by  a  writing  under  his  hand,  obliged  himself  to  make  a 
formal  surrender  of  all  right  and  title  to  any  of  the  lands,  more  than 
his  proportion  in  common  with  the  other  inhabitants,  whenever  it 
should  be  demanded. 

"  After  that,  he  seems  to  have  retired  much  from  public  business, 
till  toward  the  latter  end  of  his  days,  when  he  was  again  divers 
times  prevailed  with  to  take  the  government  upon  him ;  as  he  did 
particularly  in  1678,  when  he  died,  November  1,  in  the  seventy- 
eighth  year  of  his  age,  a  good  man  full  of  days.  Thus,  after  he 
had  the  honor  to  be  the  first  judge  and  governor  of  this  island, 
1  after  he  had  spent  much  of  his  estate  and  the  prime  of  his  life  in 
propagating  plantations,'  he  died  governor  of  the  colony  —  in  pro- 
moting the  welfare  and  the  prosperity  of  the  little  commonwealth, 
which  he  had  in  a  manner  founded."  —  See  Callendcr's  Century 
Sermon,  Rhode  Island  Hist.  Soc.  Coll.    Vol.  IV. 


G.    Page  23. 


Henry  Vane  descended  from  a  family  which  had  been  long  dis- 
tinguished in  English  History.  He  was  born  in  1612,  and  early  in 
life  embraced  the  religious  views  held  by  the  Puritans.     Finding 


76 

his  situation  at  home  embarrassing,  on  account  of  his  disaffection 
to  the  established  church,  he  emigrated  to  America  in  1635,  and 
was  received  in  Boston  with  every  demonstration  of  respect.  In 
1636,  he  was  elected  governor  of  Massachusetts,  being  at  that  time 
twenty-four  years  of  age.  He  advocated  the  sentiments  of  Mrs. 
Hutchinson  and  Mr.  Wheelwright,  and  was  the  head  of  what  was 
called  the  Antinomian  party.  That  party,  however,  was  put  down, 
and  Vane  took  passage  for  England  in  August,  1637.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  Long  Parliament,  and  a  decided  and  consistent 
friend  of  liberty,  although  he  disapproved  of  the  trial  and  execution 
of  King  Charles.  He  was  too  pure  and  just  not  to  be  an  object  of 
hatred  and  suspicion  to  Cromwell,  when  that  ambitious  personage 
had  secured  to  himself  the  supreme  power.  After  the  death  of 
Oliver  Cromwell,  Vane  came  forth  from  his  retirement,  and  became 
a  member  of  Parliament,  where  he  was  instrumental,  by  his  elo- 
quence, in  overthrowing  the  government  of  Richard  Cromwell. 
Upon  the  restoration  of  the  monarchy,  Vane,  who  had  always  been 
a  decided  republican,  was  seized  and  imprisoned,  and  finally  exe- 
cuted. After  he  had  been  condemned  to  death,  it  was  suggested, 
that,  by  making  submission  to  the  king,  his  life  might  perhaps  be 
saved.  His  noble  reply  was ;  "  If  the  king  does  not  think  himself 
more  concerned  for  his  honor  and  word,  than  I  am  for  my  life,  let 
him  take  it.  Nay,  I  declare  that  I  value  my  life  less  in  a  good 
cause,  than  the  king  can  do  his  promise.  He  is  so  sufficiently 
obliged  to  spare  my  life,  that  it  is  fitter  for  him  to  do  it,  than  for  me 
to  seek  it."  * 

The  character  of  Sir  Henry  Vane  has  been  differently  estimated 
by  different  historians.  The  man,  however,  who  has  received  the 
commendation  of  Milton  in  his  own  age,  and  of  Sir  James  Mackin- 
tosh in  a  subsequent  period,  cannot  suffer  materially  in  his  fame, 
from  those  who  can  more  easily  shout  fanatic,  than  they  can  appre- 
ciate his  qualities.  The  following  eloquent  extract  is  from  one  of 
our  own  historians. 

"  At  the  same  time  came  Henry  Vane,  the  younger,  a  man  of  the 
purest  mind;  a  statesman  of  spotless  integrity;  whose  name  the 
progress  of  intelligence  and  liberty  will  erase  from  the  rubric  of 
fanatics  and  traitors,  and  insert  high  among  the  aspirants  after  truth 

*  See  Life  of  Vane,  by  Rev.  C.  W.  Upham,  in  Sparks's  Biography. 


77 


and  the  martyrs  for  liberty.  He  had  valued  the  '  obedience  of  the 
gospel'  more  than  the  successful  career  of  English  diplomacy,  and 
cheerfully  '  forsook  the  preferments  of  the  court  of  Charles  for  the 
ordinances  of  religion  in  their  purity  in  New-England.'  He  was 
happy  in  the  possession  of  an  admirable  genius,  though  naturally 
more  inclined  to  contemplative  excellence  than  to  action ;  he  was 
happy  in  the  eulogist  of  his  virtues ;  for  Milton,  ever  so  parsimo- 
nious of  praise,  reserving  the  majesty  of  his  verse  to  celebrate  the 
glories  and  vindicate  the  Providence  of  God,  was  lavish  of  his  en- 
comiums on  the  youthful  friend  of  religious  liberty."  * 


H.     Page  38. 


The  following  is  a  list  of  the   deacons  of  the  church,  with  the 
dates  annexed,  as  far  as  these  could  be  ascertained. 


K         ((         ie 


Samuel  Bass,  July  5,  1640,  received  to  Communion. 

Alexander  Winchester,    "   12,     "      dismissed  from  First  Church 

Boston. 
Richard  Brackett,  "  21,  1642,  dism.  fr.  First  Church  Bost. 

Francis  Eliot,  Oct.  12,  1653. 

William  Alice,  "      "       " 

Robert  Parmenter,       Nov.  2,  1679. 
Samuel  Tompson 
Thomas  Bass, 
Joseph  Penniman, 
Nathaniel  Wales, 
Benjamin  Savil, 
Moses  Paine, 
Gregory  Belcher, 
Peter  Adams, 
Samuel  Savil, 


Aug.  21,  1727. 


((  (C 


*  Bancroft's  United  States,  Vol.  I.  p.  383. 


Jonathan  Webb, 
John  Adams, 
Joseph  Palmer, 
Moses  Belcher, 
Joseph  Neal,  jr. 
Daniel  Arnold, 
Benjamin  Bass, 
Ebenezer  Adams, 
Jonathan  Webb, 
Elijah  Veazie, 
Jonathan  Bass, 
Josiah  Adams, 
Daniel  Spear, 
Samuel  Savil, 
William  Spear, 
James  Newcomb, 


78 

May  11,  1747. 
tt       a 

29,  (1752  or  '53  probably.) 


3,  1769. 
1,  1771. 
Nov.  3,  1773. 


Jan.  27,  1811. 
Oct.  25,  1817. 

Nov.  2$  1835. 


The  present  deacons  are  Messrs.  Josiah  Adams,  Samuel  Savil, 
"William  Spear,  and  James  Newcomb. 

The  church  has  had  two  Ruling  Elders ;  Stephen  Kinsley,  or- 
dained Oct.  12,  1653,  —  and  Nathaniel  Wales,  ordained  Feb.  27, 
1700. 


I.     Pages  39,  43. 

Mr.  William  Tompson,  whose  name  is  spelt  without  an  k,  was 
a  native  of  Lancashire,  England.  He  is  placed  by  Cotton  Mather 
in  his  First  Classis,  including  those  that  had  been  in  the  exercise  of 
their  ministry  previous  to  their  leaving  England.  We  learn  also 
from  Mather,  who  prefers  that  his  facts  should  come  dancing 
down  to  posterity  in  rude  numbers,  that  he  was  educated  at  Oxford, 
and  after  leaving  the  University,  exercised  his  gifts,  as  a  Christian 
minister,  in  the  North  of  England. 

"  Oxford  this  light  with  Tongues  and  Arts  doth  trim  ; 
And  then  his  Northern  town  doth  challenge  him. 


79 

His  time  and  strength  he  centred  there  in  this ; 
To  do  good  works,  and  be  what  now  he  is. 
His  fulgent  virtues  there,  and  learned  strains, 
Tall,  comely  presence,  life  unsoil'd  with  stains, 
Things  most  on  Worthies,  in  their  stories  writ, 
Did  him  to  move  in  Orbs  of  service  fit."  * 

From  the  same  authority  we  learn,  that,  as  soon  as  he  left  the 
University,  he  distinguished  himself  for  his  zeal  and  eloquence  in 
the  cause  of  the  Protestant  religion,  and  attracted  many  hearers, 
and  won  many  converts.  In  the  inscription  to  a  work,  the  joint 
production  of  Mr.  Richard  Mather,  first  minister  of  Dorchester,  N.  E., 
and  Mr.  Wm.  Tompson,  addressed  to  Mr.  Herle,  is  the  following  pas- 
sage :  "  Our  answer,  which  as  we  have  written  and  now  published 
it  for  the  truth's  sake  —  so  in  special  manner  in  love  to  yourself 
and  our  dear  countrymen  and  friends,  as  in  other  places  of  Lanca- 
shire, so  in  your  parish  ofWinwick,  wherein  one  of  us  was  born, 
and  the  other  was  for  sundry  years  together  an  unworthy  minister 
of  the  Gospel  of  Christ ." 

Cotton  Mather  gives  Lowton  as  the  town  in  which  his  ances- 
tor Richard  was  born,  but  mentions  his  being  put  to  school  in 
Winwick,  four  miles  from  his  father's  door ;  so  that  the  parish  of 
Winwick  probably  included  Lowton  ;  and  we  may  conclude,  that  it 
was  Tompson  who  preached  there.  The  time  of  his  coming  to 
New  England  cannot  be  determined  with  certainty.  Farmer  says,f 
that  he  came  in  the  year  1637,  but  does  not  mention  his  reasons. 

Johnson,  in  his  "  Wonder-working  Providence,"  and  Josselyn, 
in  his  "  Chronological  Observations,"  £  give  1638  as  the  year  of 
his  emigrating.  He  is  mentioned  by  the  author  of  "  Wonder-work- 
ing Providence,"  under  date  of  1637,  as  coming  into  the  country 
just  previous  to  the  synod  held  to  settle  the  Antinomian  controversy. 
This  synod  began,  Aug.  30,  1637.  In  the  Records  of  Dorchester 
Church,  which  I  have  been  enabled  to  inspect,  through  the  kindness 
of  my  friend,  Rev.  Mr.  Hall,  and  of  which  a  fair  copy  has  been 
made  by  the  learned  Dr.  Harris,  formerly  minister  of  that  church, 
the  name  of  Mr.  Wm.  Tompson  is  given  as  a  member.  It  stands 
in  connexion  with  the  names  of  two  other   ministers,  Mr.  George 

*  Mather's  Magnalia,  Life  of  Tompson. 

t  Farmer's  Geneal.  Register. 

t  See  these  works  in  Massachusetts  Historical  Collections. 


80 

Moxon   and   Mr.   Samuel  Newman ;   but  no  date  of  admission  is 

given.     That  church,  it  appears  from  the  Records,  was  gathered, 

the  23d  day  of  August,  1636,  and  the  covenant  was  then  signed  by 

the  seven  original  members,  whose  names  are  there  given.     After 

these  follows  a  long  list   of  names,  without   any  date,   and  of  these 

Mr.  Tompson's  name  is  the  seventy-third  in  order.  As  it  stands  next 

to  the  name  of  Mr.  Samuel   Newman,   we  may  conclude  that  they 

were  admitted   at  the  same  time.     Now  Mather  informs  us,  in  his 

life  of  Mr.  Newman,   that  that  individual   came  over   in  the  year 

1638,  and  that  "  after  his  arrival  at  New  England,  he  spent  a  year 

and  half  at  Dorchester,*  &,c.     From   these   circumstances  we  are 

led  to  infer,  that  1638  is  the  earliest   date  that  can  be  assigned  for 

the  admission  of  Mr.  Tompson  into  the   Dorchester  church.     The 

fact  before  mentioned,   that  Mather  and  Tompson   came   from  the 

same  county  in  England,   and   had  been  friends  before  their  flight 

into  the  wilderness,  may  account  for  Mr.  Tompson's  having  joined 

himself  to  Mr.  Mather's   church   in  New  England.     How  long  he 

resided  in  Dorchester  is  not  known.     But  the  next  earliest  mention 

of  him  is  found  in  Winthrop's  New  England,  where  he  is  spoken  of 

as  "  a  very  holy  man,  who  had  been   an  instrument  of  much  good 

at  Acomenticus.f     This  was  the  original  name  of  York,  in  what  is 

now  the  State  of  Maine.     Mr.  Tompson  was  ordained  the  pastor  of 

the  church  at  Mount  Wollaston,  the  19th  of  November,  1639,  f  and 

made  freeman,  13th  May,  1640.     Mr.  Hancock  says,  in  a  note  to 

one  of  his  Century   Sermons,   that  "  Mr.  Tompson  was  ordained 

eight  days  after  the  church  was  gathered,  viz.  Sept.  24,  1639,"  but 

Winthrop's  authority  is  to    be   preferred.     Under   date  of  27th  of 

11th  month  (January),  1639,  a  grant  of  120  acres  of  land  at  Mount 

Wollaston  was   made   to   Mr.  Tompson,    free  from   the  rate  of  3s. 

pr.  acre,  which  charge  was  one  of  the  conditions  annexed   by  the 

town  of  Boston  to  the  permission  they  gave  the  inhabitants  at  the 

Mount  to  become  a  town  by  themselves.  §     There  was  at  the  same 

time  a  grant  made  of  80  acres,   free  from   the   same   rate,   to  Mr. 

Henry  Flynt,  teacher  of  the  newly  gathered   church.     And  as  late 

as  the  29th  of  5th  month  (July),  1644,  the   following  grant  is  re- 

*  Mather's  Magnalia. 

t  Winthrop's  New  England,  Savage's  Edition,  Vol.  I.  p.  324. 
t  Winthrop's  New  England,  Savage's  Edition.  Vol.  I.  p.  324. 
§  Boston  Town  Records.     First  Book. 


81 

corded  —  "  That  parcel  of  marsh  that  belongeth  unto  the  town  of 
Boston  in  the  three  hill  marsh  at  Braintree,  which  was  not  formerly 
counted  to^belong  to  Mr.  Wheelwright's  marsh,  together  with  the 
two  hillocks  of  upland  therein,  is  granted  to  be  equally  divided 
between  Wm.  Tompson  and  Henry  Flynt,  Teacher  of  the  church 
of  Braintree.5'*  The  first  mention  I  find  of  the  pastor  and  teacher 
in  the  Braintree  Town  Records,  which  have  been  kindly  loaned 
me  by  the  present  Town  Clerk  of  Braintree,  is  the  following  : 

"29th  10th  month  (December),  1645.  At  a  town  meeting,  there 
being  present  Mr.  Welde,  James  Peniman,  Martin  Sanders,  Thomas 
Mekins,  Samuel  Bass,  Peter  Brackett.  It  is  ordered,  that  the  14 
acres  of  Town  Marsh  shall  be  improved  to  the  Elders'  use,  Mr. 
Tompson  and  Mr.  Flint  (till)  such  time  as  the  Townsmen  shall  see 
fit  otherwise  to  dispose  of  it."  f 

One  of  the  most  important  incidents  in  the  life  of  Mr.  Tompson  was 
his  being  chosen  one  of  three  ministers  to  go  on  a  mission  to  Virginia, 
in  1642,  upon  a  request,  from  certain  individuals  in  that  remote 
colony,  that  competent  ministers  of  the  congregational  order  should 
be  sent  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  them.  The  following  extract  from 
Hubbard's  History  of  New  England  will  explain  the  reasons  and 
objects  of  this  mission. 

"In  the  same  year  (1642)  one  Mr.  Bennet,  a  gentleman  of  Vir- 
ginia, arrived  at  Boston,  bringing  letters  with  him  from  sundry  well- 
disposed  people  there,  to  the  ministers  of  New  England,  bewailing 
their  sad  condition  for  want  of  the  means  of  salvation,  and  earnestly 
entreating  a  supply  of  faithful  ministers,  whom  upon  experience  of 
their  gifts  and  godliness  they  might  call  to  office.  Upon  these  let- 
ters, (which  were  openly  read  at  Boston,  on  a  lecture-day,)  the 
ministers  there  met,  agreed  to  set  a  day  apart  to  seek  God  in  the 
thing,  and  agreed  upon  three,  which  might  most  easily  be  spared, 
viz.  Mr.  Phillips  of  Watertown,  Mr.  Thompson  of  Braintree,  and 
Mr.  Miller  of  Rowley,  (these  churches  having  each  of  them  two 
ministers,)  which  the  General  Court  approved  of,  and  ordered  that 
the  Governor  should  commend  them,  by  his  letters,  to  the  Governor 
and  Council  of  Virginia.  But  Mr.  Phillips  not  being  willing  to  go, 
Mr.  Knowles,    his    fellow-laborer,    and    Mr.  Thompson   were   sent 

*  Boston  Town  Records.     First  Book, 
t  Braintree  Town  Records.    First  Book. 

11 


82 

away,  with  the  consent  of  their  churches,  and  departed  on  their 
way,  on  the  7th  of  October,  1642,  to  meet  the  vessel  that  should 
transport  them  at  Narraganset ;  but  Mr.  Miller,  because  of  his 
bodily  weakness,  did  not  accept  the  call.  Both  the  churches  were 
willing  to  dismiss  their  ministers  to  that  work,  and  the  court  like- 
wise did  allow  and  further  it,  for  the  advancement  of  the  kingdom 
of  the  Lord  Jesus,  not  fearing  to  part  with  such  desirable  persons, 
because  they  looked  at  it  as  seed  sown,  that  might  bring  in  a  plen- 
tiful harvest. 

"  They  that  were  sent  to  Virginia  were  long  wind  bound  at 
Rhode  Island,  and  met  with  many  other  difficulties,  so  as  they  made 
it  eleven  weeks  of  a  dangerous  passage  before  they  arrived  there  ; 
but  had  this  advantage  in  the  way,  that  they  took  a  third  minister 
along  with  them,  viz.  Mr.  James,  (formerly  the  pastor  of  the  church 
at  Charlestown,)  from  New  Haven.  They  found  loving  and  liberal 
entertainment  in  the  country,  and  were  bestowed  in  several  places, 
by  the  care  of  some  honest  minded  persons,  that  much  desired  their 
company,  rather  than  by  any  care  of  the  governor's.  And  though 
the  difficulties  and  dangers  they  were  continually  exercised  with  in 
their  way  thither  put  them  upon  some  question,  whether  their  call 
were  of  God  or  not,  yet  were  they  much  encouraged  by  the  success 
of  their  ministry,  through  the  blessing  of  God,  in  that  place.  Mr. 
Thompson,  a  man  of  a  melancholy  temper  and  crazy  body,  wrote 
word  back  to  his  friends,  that  he  found  his  health  so  repaired,  and 
his  spirit  so  enlarged,  that  he  had  not  been  in  the  like  condition 
since  he  first  left  England.  But  it  fared  with  them,  as  it  had  done 
before  with  the  apostles  in  the  primitive  times,  that  the  people  mag- 
nified them,  and  their  hearts  seemed  to  be  much  inflamed  with  an 
earnest  desire  after  the  gospel,  though  the  civil  rulers  of  the  coun- 
try did  not  allow  of  their  public  preaching,  because  they  did  not 
conform  to  the  orders  of  the  Church  of  England  ;  however  the 
people  resorted  to  them,  in  private  houses,  as  much  as  before.  At 
their  return,  which  was  the  next  summer,  by  the  letters  they  brought 
with  them,  it  appears  that  God  had  greatly  blessed  their  ministry, 
for  the  time  while  they  were  there,  which  was  not  long ;  for  the 
rulers  of  the  country  did  in  a  sense  drive  them  out,  having  made  an 
order  that  all  such  as  would  not  conform  to  the  discipline  of  the 
English  Church  should  depart  the  country  by  such  a  day."* 

*  Hubbard's  Hist,  of  N.  England,  in  Mass.  Hist.  Coll.  Vol.  VI.  2d  Series. 


83 

Winthrop,  from  whom  Hubbard  took  a  great  part  of  the  materials 
of  his  History,  mentions  some  additional  particulars  respecting  this 
mission.  "  They  were  eleven  weeks,"  he  says,  "  before  they  ar- 
rived. They  lay  wind-bound  some  time  at  Aquiday ;  then,  as  they 
passed  Hellgate  between  Long  Island  and  the  Dutch,  their  pinnace 
was  bilged  upon  the  rocks,  so  as  she  was  near  foundered  before 
they  could  run  on  the  next  shore.  The  Dutch  Governor  gave  them 
slender  entertainment;  but  Mr.  Allerton  of  New  Haven,  being 
there,  took  great  pains  and  care  for  them,  and  procured  them  a 
very  good  pinnace,  and  all  things  necessary.  So  they  set  sail  in  the 
dead  of  winter,  and  had  much  foul  weather,  so  as  with  great  diffi- 
culty and  danger  they  arrived  safe  in  Virginia."  * 

It  appears,  from  what  is  related  concerning  this  mission,  that, 
although  it  did  not  succeed,  as  had  been  anticipated,  and  was  ab- 
ruptly terminated  by  the  order  from  the  authorities  of  the  Virginia 
colony,  yet  it  was  not  wholly  without  fruit.  Many  seem  to  have 
been  favorably  impressed  by  the  preaching  of  Tompson  and  his 
associates ;  and  the  early  historians  of  New  England  mention  par- 
ticularly the  removal  of  Daniel  Gookins  from  Virginia  to  New  Eng- 
land, as  the  result  of  the  deep  impression  produced  by  the  Puritan 
preachers  from  the  North.  This  individual  seems  to  have  been 
highly  esteemed  in  his  day.  He  removed  to  this  part  of  the  coun- 
try in  1644,  and  settled  in  Cambridge ;  was  Major  General  of  the 
Massachusetts  Colony,  and  was  author  of  "  The  Historical  Collec- 
tions of  the  Indians  in  New  England."!  Mather  thus  alludes,  and 
in  no  bad  strain,  to  the  dangers  and  benefits  that  attended  this 
mission. 

"  When  Reverend  Knowles  and  he,  sailed  hand  in  hand, 
To  Christ  espousing  the  Virginian  land, 
Upon  a  ledge  of  craggy  rocks  near  stav'd, 
His  Bible  in  his  bosom  thrusting  sav'd ; 
The  Bible,  the  best  cordial  of  his  heart, 
'Come  floods,  come  flames,  (cried  he,)  we'll  never  part' 
A  constellation  of  great  converts  there, 
Shone  round,  him,  and  his  heavenly  glory  were. 
Gookins  was  one  of  these :  by  Tompson's  pains, 
Christ  and  New  England  a  dear  Gookins  gains."  | 

*  Winthrop's  N.  England,  Vol.  II.  p.  96. 

t  See  Mass.  Hist.  Collections,  where  this  work  has  been  printed. 

t  Mather's  Magnalia,  Life  of  Tompson. 


84 

Mr.  Tompson  met  with  a  severe  bereavement  in  the  death,  during 
his  absence,  of  his  wife,  who  is  described  as  "  a  godly  young  woman, 
and  a  comfortable  help  to  him,  being  left  behind  with  a  company 
of  small  children,  she  was  taken  away  by  death,  and  all  his  children 
scattered,  but  well  disposed  of  among  his  godly  friends."* 

In  the  First  Book  of  Records  of  First  Congregational  Church, 
Roxbury,  with  the  loan  of  which  I  have  been  favored,  are  entered 
some  verses,  occasioned  by  the  death  of  Mrs.  Tompson.  They  are 
in  the  form  of  a  consolatory  address,  supposed  to  be  made  by  the 
deceased  wife,  from  the  world  of  spirits,  to  her  surviving  husband. 
They  will  be  regarded,  of  course,  rather  as  a  curious  relic  of  the 
past,  than  as  presenting  any  very  strong  claims  to  poetical  merit. 
The  lines,  however,  which  are  italicised  are  expressed  in  natural 
and  simple  language,  which  was  uncommon  in  the  metrical  attempts 
of  that  day. 

"  An  Anagram   of  Mrs.  Tomson,  which  Mr.  [here  some  words  are 
obliterated  in  the  manuscript]    Mr.  Tomson  to  Virginia,  she  dy- 
ing in  his  absence,  when  he  was  sent  to  preach  Christ  to  them. 
Abigayll  Tomson. 
I  am  gon  to  al  blys. 

The  blessed  news  I  send  to  thee  is  this, 
That  I  am  gone  from  thee  unto  all  bliss,  — 
Such  as  the  saints  and  angels  do  enjoy, 
Whom  neither  devil,  world  nor  flesh  annoy ; 
The  bliss  of  blisses.     I  am  gone  to  him, 
Who  as  a  bride  did  for  himself  me  trim. 
Thy  bride  I  was,  (a  most  unworthy  one,) 
But  to  a  better  bridegroom  I  am  gone, 
Who  doth  account  me  worthy  of  himself, 
Though  I  were  never  such  a  worthless  elf. 
He  hath  me  clad  with  his  own  worthiness, 
And  for  the  sake  thereof  he  doth  me  bless. 
Thou  didst  thy  part  to  wash  me,  but  his  grace 
Hath  left  no  spot  nor  wrinkle  in  my  face. 
Thou  little  think'st,  nor  canst  at  all  conceive, 
What  is  the  bliss  that  I  do  now  receive. 
When  oft  I  heard  thee  preach  and  pray  and  sing, 
I  thought  that  heaven  was  a  most  glorious  thing. 

"  Winthrop's  N.  England,  Vol.  II.  p.  96. 


85 


And  I  believe,  if  any  knew,  't  was  thou 

That  knew'st  what  manner  thing  it  was,  but  now 

I  see  thou  sawest  but  a  glimpse,  and  hast 

No  more  of  heaven,  but  a  little  taste 

Compared  with  that  which  here  we  see  and  have, 

Nor  can'st  have  more  till  thou  have  past  the  grave. 

Thou  never  told'st  me  of  the  tithe,  nor  yet 

The  hundredth  thousand  thousand  part  of  it. 

Alas !  (dear  soul,)  how  short  is  all  the  fame 

Of  these  third  heavens  where  I  translated  am. 

Oh  if  thou  ever  loved'st  me  at  all, 

Whom  thou  didst  by  such  loving  titles  call, 

Yea,  if  thou  lovest  Christ,  as  who  doth  more, 

Then  do  not  thou  my  death  too  much  deplore. 

Wring  not  thy  hands,  nor  sigh,  nor  cry,  nor  weep, 

Because  thine  Abigail  is  falVn  asleep : 

'Tis  but  her  body,  ivhich  shall  rise  again, 

In  Christ's  sweet  bosom  doth  her  soul  remain. 

Mourn  not  as  if  thou  hast  no  hope  of  me, 

'Tis  I,  H  is  1  have  cause  to  pity  thee. 

O  turn  thy  sighing  into  songs  of  praise 

Unto  the  name  of  God,  let  all  thy  days 

Be  spent  in  blessing  of  his  grace  for  this, 

That  he  hath  brought  me  to  this  place  of  bliss. 

It  was  a  blessed,  a  thrice  blessed  snow, 

Which  to  the  meeting  I  then  waded  through. 

When  pierced  I  was  upon  my  naked  skin, 

Up  to  the  middle  the  deep  snow  within, 

There  never  was  more  happy  way  I  trod, 

That  brought  me  home  so  soon  unto  my  God ; 

Where  we  do  always  hallelujahs  sing 

Unto  that  blessed  and  eternal  king, 

Where  I  do  look  for  thee  to  come  ere  long 

To  sing  thy  part  in  this  most  joyful  song ; 

Instead  of  Braintree  church,  conducting  me 

Unto  a  better  church,  where  now  I  see 

Not  sinful  men,  but  Christ,  and  those  that  are 

Fully  exempt  from  every  spot  and  scar 

Of  sinful  guilt;  where  I  no  longer  (need) 

Or  word  or  seal  my  feeble  soul  to  (feed), 

But  face  to  face  I  do  behold  the  lamb 

That  down  from  heaven  for  my  salvation  came, 

And  hither  is  ascended  up  again, 

Me  to  prepare  a  place  wherein  to  reign." 


86 

Mr.  Tompson  married,  for  a  second  wife,  Anne,  the  widow  of 
Symon  Crosbie  of  Cambridge.  The  date  of  this  second  marriage 
of  Mr.  Tompson  I  have  not  ascertained,  but  suppose  it  to  have 
been  in  1646  or  1647.  Their  only  child,  Anna  Tompson,  was  born 
March  3,  1648.* 

The  next  notice  I  have  met  with  of  Mr.  Tompson  is  connected 
with  the  Synod,  which  was  convened  at  Cambridge  in  1648,  and 
which  framed  the  platform  of  Church  Discipline  for  our  Congrega- 
tional churches.  "  Mr.  Allen  of  Dedham  preached  out  of  Acts  15, 
a  very  godly,  learned,  and  particular  handling  of  near  all  the  doc- 
trines and  applications  concerning  that  subject,  &c. 

"'It  fell  out  about  the  midst  of  his  sermon,  there  came  a  snake  into 
the  seat,  where  many  of  the  elders  sate  behind  the  preacher.  It 
came  in  at  the  door  where  people  stood  thick  upon  the  stairs.  Di- 
vers of  the  elders  shifted  from  it,  but  Mr.  Tompson,  one  of  the 
elders  of  Braintree,  a  man  of  much  faith,  trode  upon  the  head  of  it, 
and  so  held  it  with  his  foot  and  staff  with  a  small  pair  of  grains, 
until  it  was  killed.  This  being  so  remarkable,  and  nothing  falling 
out  but  by  divine  providence,  it  is  out  of  doubt,  the  Lord  discov- 
ered somewhat  of  his  mind  in  it.  The  serpent  is  the  devil  ;  the 
Synod,  the  representative  of  the  churches  of  Christ  in  New  England. 
The  devil  had  formerly  and  lately  attempted  their  disturbance  and 
dissolution;  but  their  faith  in  the  seed  of  the  woman  overcame  him, 
and  crushed  his  head."  f  —  The  incident  here  related  so  gravely, 
together  with  the  remarks  made  upon  it  by  such  a  man  as  Winthrop, 
furnishes  a  singular  illustration  of  the  character  of  our  fathers. 

For  several  years  before  his  death,  Mr.  Tompson's  happiness  and 
usefulness  appear  to  have  been  destroyed,  by  a  fixed  melancholy, 
probably  constitutional,  and  which  amounted  at  times  to  mental 
alienation.  He  left  off  his  public  labors  as  a  preacher,  in  the  year 
1659,  about  seven  years  before  his  death. | 

The  state  of  his  mind,  in  the  latter  portion  of  his  life,  doubtless 
incapacitated  him  for  the  management   of  his  temporal   affairs,  as 

*  Braintree  Register  of  Births,  Deaths,  &c.  A  copy  of  this  old  Register 
was  made  several  years  since  for  President  John  Adams,  and  is  now  in  the 
possession  of  Hon.  John  Q.  Adams,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  the  use  of  it. 

t  Winthrop's  New  England,  Vol.  II.  p.  330. 

t  This  fact  I  ascertained  from  one  of  the  old  documents,  in  the  archives  of 
the  State,  so  conveniently  arranged  by  Mr.  Felt. 


87 

well  as  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties.  In  the  archives  of  the 
State  is  a  document  entitled,  "  A  proposal  for  the  issue  of  the  com- 
plaints presented  by  the  beloved  brethren,  the  Deacons  of  the  Church 
of  Braintree,  in  reference  to  our  beloved  sister  Mrs.  Tompson,  yet 
standing  member  of  the  Church  of  Cambridge,  drawn  up  by  the 
Elders  and  some  brethren  of  that  church  who  had  an  hearing  thereof 
at  Cambridge,  October  15,  1661." — This  unhappy  difference  be- 
tween Mrs.  Tompson  and  the  officers  of  the  Braintree  Church 
seems  to  have  continued.  After  the  decease  of  her  husband,  she 
presented  a  petition,  in  1668,  to  the  General  Court,  in  which  she 
complains  of  certain  moneys  being  witheld,  that  were  due  to  her 
husband  for  his  services,  and  asks  for  relief,  although  she  "  humbly 
craves,  that  she  may  not  be  interpreted  to  accuse  the  Church  of  acts 
of  any  injustice  or  neglect  in  the  place  where  she  lives."  —  In  this 
connexion  it  may  be  mentioned  that  in  the  Dorchester  Church  Re- 
cords is  the  following  entry  : 
"  The  26  (1)  '65. 

"  The  day  abovesaid,  at  the  motion  of  Mr.  Mather,  there  was  a 
contribution  for  Mr.  Tompson  at  Braintree,  unto  which  there  was 
given  in  money  £6.  Os.  9d.}  besides  notes  for  corn  and  other  things, 
above  30s. ;  and  some  more  money  was  added  afterwards  to  the 
value  of  8s.  3d." 

It  is  not  easy  to  account  for  Mr.  Tompson's  becoming  so  reduced 
in  his  circumstances.  Johnson,  in  his  "  Wonder-working  Provi- 
dence," has  a  passage  which  bears  upon  the  subject.  "  This  Town  " 
(he  is  speaking  of  the  town  then  recently  incorporated  at  Mount 
Wollaston,  by  the  name  of  Braintree)  "  hath  great  store  of  land  in 
tillage,  and  is  at  present  in  a  very  thriving  condition  for  outward 
things,  although  some  of  Boston  retain  their  farms  from  being  of 
their  Town,  yet  do  they  lie  within  their  bounds,  and  how  it  comes 
to  pass  I  know  not ;  their  officers  have  somewhat  short  allowance  ; 
they  are  well  stored  with  cattle  and  corn,  and  as  a  people  receives 
so  should  they  give.  The  Reverend  Mr.  Tompson  is  a  man  abound- 
ing in  zeal  for  the  propagation  of  the  gospel,  and  of  an  ardent  af- 
fection, in  so  much  that  he  is  apt  to  forget  himself  in  things  that 
concern  his  own  good,"  &,c. 

And  yet  from  the  Report  of  the  Committee,*   appointed  by  the 

*  See  Massachusetts  Historical  Collections,  3d  Series,  Vol.  I. 


38 

General  Court,  to  inquire  concerning  the  maintenance  of  ministers 
in  the  County  "of  Suffolk^it  appears  that  the  salary  allowed  their 
ministers  in  Braintree,  was,  considering  the  size  of  the  place,  quite 
as  good  as  in  the  neighboring  towns.  That  Committee,  consisting  of 
Thomas  Savage,  Eleazer  Lusher,  John  Johnson,  met  22d  of  July, 
1657.  According  to  their  report  Hingham,  having  about  one 
hundred  familes,  allowed  £90  pr.  annum.  Weymouth,  <£100  pr. 
annum,  with  60  families.  Dorchester,  <£100,  120  families.  Rox- 
bury,  to  Mr.  Elliot  and  Mr.  Danforth  each  .£60,  80  families. 
Dedham  £60,  166  families.  Medfield,  c£50  pr.  annum,  40  families. 
Hull,  o£40  pr.  annum,  20  families.  The  Report  likewise  mentions 
that  the  mode  of  raising  the  salaries  inJBraintree  was  by  public 
contribution,  and  for  this  reason,  perhaps,  the  amount  raised  was 
liable  to  vary  from  time  to  time. 

Death  at  length  came  to  deliver  the  pastor  from  his  outward 
straits,  and  to  relieve  his  mental  distress.  It  is  gratifying  to  be  as- 
sured, that  before  his  departure,  the  cloud,  that  had  settled  upon  him 
for  years,  lifted,  and  he  enjoyed  a  brief  season  of  peace.  He  died, 
December  10,  1666  ;  according  to  his  grave-stone,  which  is  still 
standing  in  the  burying  place  in  this  town,  with  the  following  in- 
scription :  "  Here  lies  buried  the  body  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  William 
Tompson,  the  first  Pastor  of  Braintrey  Church,  who  deceased  Decem- 
ber 10,  1666,  iEtatis  suae  68. 

"  He  was  a  learned,  solid,  sound  divine, 
Whose  name  and  fame  in  both  England  did  shine." 

Although  this  is,  doubtless,  the  true  date  of  his  death,  there  is  a 
singular  diversity  on  this  point,  in  contemporary  notices  of  the  event, 
which  serves  to  show  how  difficult  it  is  to  attain  to  historical  exact- 
ness, where  exactness  is  of  more  moment  than  in  the  present  in- 
stance. The  Roxbury  Church  Records,  in  noticing  the  event,  make  it 
occur  the  12th  of  10th  mo.  '66.  Hobart's  manuscript  Journal  *  has 
the  following  entry  :  "  Dec.  9,  1666,  Mr.  Tompson,  minister  at  Brain- 
tree,  died  9  day."  The  Braintree  Register  of  Births,  Deaths,  &c, 
Mr.  Adams's  copy,  gives  10th  mo.  10,  1666.  Mr.  Hancock,  in  a 
note  to  one  of  his  Century  Discourses  gives  the  date  December  10, 
1668,  which  is  manifestly  a  mistake,  and  probably  a  misprint. 

*  Journal  of  Mr.  Peter  Hobart,  first  Minister  of  Hingham,  kindly  procured 
for  me,  with  other  old  manuscripts,  by  Solomon  Lincoln,  Esq.  of  Hingham. 


89 

Mr.  Tompson  is  described  by  Mather,  in  his  Magnalia,  as  "  a  very 
powerful  and  successful  preacher  ;  and  we  find  his  name  sometimes 
joined  in  the  title  page  of  several  books,  with  his  countryman,  Mr. 
Richard  Mather,  as  a  writer."  Since  the  Discourses  in  this  Pamph- 
let were  written,  I  have  succeeded  in  finding  in  the  Library  of  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society  one  work,  the  joint  production  of 
these  two  individuals.  It  bears  the  following  title  :  "  A  modest  and 
brotherly  answer  to  Mr.  Charles  Herle  his  Book  against  the  Inde- 
pendency of  Churches,  wherein  his  four  arguments  for  the  govern- 
ment of  Synods  over  particular  Congregations  are  friendly  exam- 
ined and  clearly  answered.  Together  with  christian  and  loving 
animadversions  upon  sundry  other  observable  passages  in  the  said 
Book. 

"All  tending  to  declare  the  true  use  of  Synods,  and  the  power 
of  Congregational  Churches,  in  the  points  of  electing  and  ordain- 
ing their  own  officers. 

"  By  Richard  Mather,  Teacher  of  the  church  at  Dorchester,  and 
William  Tompson,  Pastor  of  the  Church  at  Braintry  in  New- 
England. 

"  Sent  from  thence  after  the  assembly  of  Elders  were  dissolved, 
that  last  met  in  Cambridge,  to  debate  matters  about  church  gov- 
ernment.    London,  1644." 

From  the  Inscription  prefixed  to  this  work  a  quotation  has  already 
been  made  in  the  first  part  of  the  present  note. 

The  children  of  Mr.  Tompson,  according  to  Farmer,*  were 
William,  Samuel,  Joseph,  Benjamin,  and  a  daughter  who  married 
William  Very.  William,  if  there  was  a  son  by  this  name,  which  I 
question,  and  Samuel  must  have  been  born  in  England.  Mr.  Sav- 
age, in  his  Edition  of  Winthrop,  says  that  "  the  Braintree  Records 
mention  the  birth  of  his  son  Joseph,  1  May,  1640,  Benjamin,  14 
July,  1642,  and  the  death  of  his  wife  in  January,  1642."  This  is  man- 
ifestly a  mistake,  and  should  be  1643,  as  Farmer  has  it.  I  have 
not  been  able  to  find,  in  Mr.  Adams's  copy  of  the  Braintree  Regis- 
ter, the  births  or  the  death  mentioned  above.  The  daughter's  name 
was  Anna,  and  she  was  born  1  mo.  3,  1648.f  This  was  a  child  by 
his  second  wife.  The  others  were  the  children  of  his  first  wife, 
"  his  beloved   Abigail." — There  was  a  Wm.  Thompson  graduated 

*  Farmer's  Genealogical  Register.  i  Braintree  Register. 

12 


90 

at  Harvard  College,  1653,  and  him  Farmer  thinks  to  have  been  a 
a  son  of  the  Pastor  of  Braintree.*  He  became  a  preacher  and  was 
invited  to  settle  at  Springfield,  and  appears  to  have  been  living  in 
1698.  In  the  Suffolk  Probate  Records  is  a  Document,  entitled, 
"  Articles  of  agreement  between  Mrs.  Anna  Tompson,  widow  of 
Mr.  Win.  Tompson  of  Braintree,  and  Mr.  Tompson's  children, 
concerning  the  estate,"  &c.  In  this  Document,  dated  2  May, 
1667,  Samuel  is  spoken  of  as  the  oldest  son  of  Mr.  Tompson,  and 
no  William  is  mentioned.  This  leads  me  to  think  that  Farmer 
was  in  an  error  on  this  point.  Samuel  was  a  Deacon  of  the 
Braintree  Church.  He  was  married  to  Sarah  Shepard,  25  April, 
1656,  by  Mr.  Brown  of  Watertown.f  He  was  voted  town  Clerk 
in  the  year  1690.J  The  same  year  he  made  the  following  entry : 
"  Samuel  Tompson  sen.,  who  is  aged,  the  16th  Feb.  1690,  60  years, 
recorded  his  children  which  he  had,  by  Sarah  his  wife,"  &c.  §  It 
appears  then  that  he  was  born  himself  in  the  year  1630,  and  was 
about  7  years  of  age  when  his  father  emigrated  to  New  England. 
His  death  is  noticed  thus;  "Samuel  Tompson  sen.,  Deacon  of 
Br.  Church,  for  16  years,  and  standing  elected  for  a  ruling  elder, 
died,  18  June,  1695  ML  64  yrs."||  He  was  also  Representative  14 
years.ff  His  grave  stone  is  to  be  seen  in  our  burying  ground.  Ed- 
ward Tompson,  ordained  minister  of  Marshfield,  14  Oct.  1696,  was 
son  of  the  preceding,  and  not  of  Benjamin,  as  Farmer  asserts. 

"  Joseph,  son  of  the  Rev.  Wm.  Tompson,  was  born  at  Braintree, 
1  May,  1640,  married  Mary  Brackett,  24  July,  1662,  and  soon  after 
settled  in  Billerica,  where  he  was  a  schoolmaster,  captain,  select- 
man, town  clerk,  deacon  of  the  church  many  years,  and  in  1699, 
1700,  and   1701,  a  representative  to  the  General  Court.     He  died, 

13  Oct.  1732,  ^E.  92."** 

Benjamin,  son  of  the  Rev.  Wm.  Tompson,  was  born  at  Braintree, 

14  July,  1642,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  1662.ff  He  was 
town  Clerk  of  Braintree  in  1696.  He  kept  a  school  in  this  town 
many  years.  He  was  a  poet,  and  "  author  of  the  verses  in  praise  of 
Whiting,  which  are,  probably,"  says  the  Editor  of  Winthrop,||  "  the 
best  in  the  Magnalia."     His  death  is  thus   mentioned  in  the  Brain- 

*  Geneal.  Register.       t  Braintree  Register.       \  Ibid.       §   Ibid.        ||  Ibid. 
11  Farmer's  Geneal.  Register  **  Ibid.  tt  Ibid. 

XX  Winthrop's  N.  England,  Savage's  Note  to  p.  313.  Vol.  I. 


91 

tree  Register  :  "  Mr.  Benj.  Tompson,  practitioner  of  physic  for 
above  30  years,  during  which  time  he  kept  a  grammar  school  in 
Boston,  Charleston,  and  Braintree,  having  left  behind  him  a  weary 
world,  8  children,  28  grand-children,  deceased  13  April,  1714. 
And  lieth  buried  in  Roxbury,  iEt.  72.  Benjamin,  the  youngest  son 
of  Rev.  Wm.  Tompson,  by  his  beloved  Abigail,  who  died  while  Mr. 
Tompson  was  in  Virginia  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Knowles." 

Whether  Mr.  Tompson's  first  wife,  who  died  in  his  absence,  was 
buried  in  Braintree,  I  do  not  know.  There  is  no  stone  remaining 
here  to  her  memory.  His  second  wife  died  Oct.  11,  1675,  and  lies 
buried  beside  him.* 

"  It  is  supposed,"  says  Mr.  Savage,  "  that  the  celebrated  Benja- 
min Tompson,  Count  Rumford,  was  descended  from  this  first  Pas- 
tor of  Braintree. "f  It  is  not  agreeable  to  be  obliged  to  question  the 
statement,  but  Farmer  has  traced  the  Count's  descent  from  a  differ- 
ent family,  and  who  will  dispute  with  Farmer  on  such  a  point? 

Mr.  Tompson  died  intestate.  There  is  in  the  Suffolk  Probate 
Office  an  inventory  of  his  effects,!  which  corresponds  too  closely 
with  Mather's  lines  : 

"  Braintree  was  of  this  Jewel  then  possest, 
Until  himself  he  labored  into  rest, 
His  Inventory  then,  with  John's  was  took ; 
A  rough  Coat,  girdle,  with  the  sacred  Book." 


K.  Pasre  40. 


The  account  given  by  Mather,  in  his  Magnalia,  of  Mr.  Henry 
Flint  (or  Flynt,  as  it  is  found  most  frequently  spelt)  is  very  meagre. 
It  amounts  to  but  little  more  than  that  his  reverence  for  John  Cot- 
ton was  so  great,  that,  having  twins,  he  called  one  of  them  John, 
and  the  other  Cotton.  According  to  Johnson,  he  arrived  here  in 
the  year  1635.  "  He  was  admitted  of  Boston  Church,  15  Novem- 
ber, this  year  (1635)  a  fortnight  after  Vane."  §     In  a  manuscript 

*  Braintree  Register.  t   Savage's  Winthrop,  Vol.  I.  p.  313  note. 

X  The  old  Suffolk  County,  it  will  be  remembered,  included  Braintree. 
§   Winthrop's  N.  England,  Savage's  Edition,  p.  169.  Vol.  I.,  note. 


92 

Journal  of  Rev.  Josiah  Flynt,  son  of  the  first  Teacher  of  Braintree,* 
I  find  the  following  entry:  "  Mr.  Henry  Flint  came  to  New  Eng- 
land 2,  (I2)m.  1635."  I  know  not  how  to  reconcile  this  with  the 
date  of  his  admission  into  the  Boston  church,  except  by  supposing 
that  by  the  12th  mo.  (which  was  February)  was  intended  that  which 
closed  the  year  1634,  according  to  the  computation  then  in  use. 
And  I  am  confirmed  in  this  supposition,  by  what  is  added,  namely, 
"  was  ordained  Teacher  of  the  church  of  Braintree  1640."  He  was 
in  fact  ordained,  17  March,  1639-40.  This  part  of  the  manuscript 
was,  I  suppose,  written  by  Henry  Flynt,  Esq.  The  year  then  com- 
menced, it  will  be  borne  in  mind,  with  March,  so  that  February 
closed  the  year,  instead  of  being,  as  now,  the  second  month  of  a 
new  year. 

From  what  part  of  England  Mr.  Flynt  came  can  be  known  only 
by  inference.  Thomas  Flynt,  of  Concord,  says  Farmer,  "  brother 
of  the  Rev.  Henry  Flynt,  came  from  Matlock  in  Derbyshire,  and 
settled  in  Concord,  in  1637."f  We  may  take  for  granted,  therefore, 
that  the  minister  of  Braintree  came  from  the  same  place.  He  was 
admitted  Freeman,}:  25  May,  1636.  During  the  Antinomian  excite- 
ment, he  seems  to  have  favored  the  new  views,  perhaps  out  of  defer- 
ence to  Mr.  Cotton,  whom  he  is  said  to  have  admired  so  much  ;  and 
if  so,  he  followed  the  example  of  Cotton  still  further,  and  evinced 
his  prudence,  by  abjuring  the  doctrine  of  Mr.  Wheelwright,  when 
he  and  his  principal  friends  had  been  obliged  to  leave  the  colony. 
"  There  is  entered,"  says  Mr.  Savage,  §  "  so  late  as  13  May,  1640, 
the  submission  of  Mr.  Henry  Flynt.  But  the  victory  over  him  was 
well  deserving  of  notice,  as  he  was  a  distinguished  young  man,  then 
chosen  minister  at  Braintree,  where  his  settlement,  which  should 
have  taken  place  at  the  same  time  with  Tompson's,  24  Sept.  1639, || 
was  delayed  till  17  March  after.  No  doubt  this  postponement  was, 
to  afford  him  liberal  opportunity  for  this  recantation."  And  it  will 
be  perceived  by  the  following  extract  from  the  "  Wonder-working 

*  This  manuscript  belonged  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Holmes,  the  American  Annalist, 
and  is  now  in  the  hands  of  his  widow,  from  whom  it  was  procured  for  my  use 
by  the  kindness  of  Miss  Quincy. 

t  Farmer's  Genealogical  Register.  t  Ibid. 

§  Winthrop,  Savage's  Edition,  Vol.  I.  p.  247. 

||  This  date  is  a  mistake.  Winthrop  gives  the  date  of  Tompson's  ordination, 
Nov.  19,  1639.     Vol.  I.  p.  324. 


93 

Providence,"  that  Mr.  Flynt  was  honored  as  one  of  the  instruments 
for  correcting  the  heterodoxy  that  had  prevailed  at  the  Mount,  in  the 
time  of  Wheelwright.  "They  had  formerly  one  Mr.  Wheelwright 
to  preach  unto  them,  (till  this  government  could  no  longer  contain 
them,)  they,  many  of  them,  in  the  mean  time,  belonging  to  the 
Church  of  Christ  in  Boston,  but  after  his  departure,  they  gathered 
into  a  church  themselves  ;  having  some  enlargement  of  land,  they 
began  to  be  well  peopled,  calling  to  office  among  them,  the  reverend 
and  godly  Mr.  Wm.  Tompson,  and  Mr.  Henry  Flynt,  the  one  to  the 
office  of  a  Pastor,  the  other  of  a  Teacher  ;  the  people  are  purged,  by 
their  industry,  from  the  sour  leven  of  those  sinful  opinions  that  be- 
gan to  spread,  and  if  any  remain  among  them,  it  is  very   covert."  * 

It  has  been  mentioned,  in  another  place,  that  he  had  a  grant  of 
80  acres  of  land  at  the  Mount,  made  to  him  by  the  town  of  Boston, 
in  the  year  1639  -40.f  And  again  is  the  following  :  "  29th,  5th  mo. 
J 644.     The  land   within  the  common  fence   at  Braintry,  near  the 

Knight's  Neck,  belonging  to  Boston,  is   hereby  sold  unto   

Matson,  James  Penniman,  Moses  Payne,  Francis  Eliot,  for  5s.  per. 
acre,  be  it  more  or  less,  to  be  paid  in  corn  or  cattle,  within  one 
month,  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Henry  Flynt,  of  Braintry,  for  his  own 
use,  on  consideration  of  his  late  great  loss,  through  the  hand  of 
God's  Providence,  by  fire."  J 

Mr.  Flynt  is  not  spoken  of,  by  any  of  the  historians  who  mention 
him,  as  an  author,  nor  have  I  been  able  to  discover  anything  in  his 
hand-writing,  or  in  that  of  his  associate,  the  Pastor  of  Braintree 
Church.  Mr.  Hancock  has  the  remark  :  "  During  the  time  of  Mr. 
Tompson's  and  Mr.  Flynt's  ministry,  there  were  204  adult  members 
of  this  church.  I  have  also  a  record,  in  Mr.  Flynt's  manuscripts,  of 
baptisms  from  April  30,  1643,  to  March  1,  1667-8,  though  I  am 
jealous  there  were  some  omissions;  the  whole  number  amounts  to 
408.  I  cannot  find  any  account  of  baptisms  in  the  time  of  vacancy 
between  Mr.  Flynt's  death  and  Mr.  Fiske's  settlement."^ 

The  manuscripts  which  Mr.  Hancock  refers  to  above  are  not  now, 
and  have  never  been  in  the  possession  of  either  of  the  present  min- 
isters of  the  church.  In  a  conversation  with  Dr.  Harris,  formerly  the 
respected  Pastor  of  Dorchester  First  Congregational  Church,  I  un- 

*  Johnson's  Wonder-working  Providence.  t  Boston  old  Town  Rec. 

t  Boston  old  Town  Records.  §  Hancock's  Century  Sermon. 


94 

derstood  him  to  say  that  Mr.  Welde,  formerly  Pastor  of  what  is  now 
Braintree  Church,  had  those  records  in  his  possession ;  but  when  he 
obtained  them,  and  for  what  purpose,  was  not  explained.  They  are 
probably  now  irrecoverably  lost.  As  curious  and  interesting  relics 
of  old  times,  their  loss  must  be  regretted. 

Mr.  Flynt  died,  27  April,  1668,  having  survived  the  Pastor,  Mr. 
Tompson,  a  little  over  a  year  and  four  months,  and  his  remains  lie 
in  our  burying  ground.  A  stone  over  them  bears  the  following  in- 
scription :  "  Here  lies  interred  the  body  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Henry 
Flynt,  who  came  to  New  England  in  the  year  1635  :  was  ordained 
the  first  Teacher  of  the  Church  of  Braintrey,  1639,  and  died,  April 
27,  1668.  He  had  the  character  of  a  gentleman  remarkable  for  his 
piety,  learning,  wisdom,  and  fidelity  in  his  office.  By  him,  on  his 
right  hand,  lies  the  body  of  Margery,  his  beloved  consort,  who 
died,  March  1686-7.  Her  maiden  name  was  Hoar.  She  was  a 
gentlewoman  of  piety,  prudence,  and  peculiarly  accomplished  for 
instructing  young  gentlewomen ;  many  being  sent  to  her  from  other 
towns,  especially  from  Boston.  They  descended  from  ancient  and 
good  families  in  England." 

This  inscription,  I  suspect,  was  written  in  Mr.  Hancock's  time, 
perhaps  by  Mr.  Hancock  himself.  He  says  in  a  note  to  one  of  his 
Century  Discourses  :  "  Mr.  Flynt's  monument  is  still  to  be  seen, 
though  much  gone  to  decay,  but  I  hope  to  see  the  tomb  of  the 
prophet  rebuilt."  *  This  note,  taken  in  connexion  with  the  modern 
style  of  the  inscription,  leads  me  to  infer  that  the  old  inscription 
had  been  effaced  by  time,  and  that  this  was  composed  anew  or  at 
least  re-written.  The  age  of  Mr.  Flynt,  at  his  death,  is  not  given 
on  his  tomb  stone.  But  in  the  Roxbury  First  Church  Records, 
there  is  entered  a  notice  of  the  event  in  these  words : 

"27,  2m.,  '68.  Mr.  Henry  Flynt,  Teacher  to  the  church  at  Brain- 
trey, aged  61,  deceased."  He  was,  therefore,  about  32  years  of 
age  when  he  was  settled  in  Braintree,  and  eight  or  nine  years 
younger  than  the  Pastor.  The  following  is  a  notice  of  his  death 
by  his  son  Josiah  :  "  On  27,  2m.,  1668,  it  pleased  the  Lord  to  take 
away  my  honored  father,  Mr.  Henry  Flynt,  Teacher  of  the  church 
of  Braintrey."  f 

The  date  of  Mrs.  Flynt's  decease,  which  is  not  given  in  full,  in 

*  Hancock's  Century  Disc.  p.  24.  \  Rev.  Josiah  Flynt's  MS.  Journal. 


95 

the  inscription  upon  the  stone,  is  thus  settled  by  contemporary  man- 
uscripts. "Mrs.  Margery  Flynt  died,  10  March,  16S6-7,  about 
6  of  the  clock  in  the  morning,  and  was  buried  the  12th."  "  1687, 
March  10,  Mrs.  Flynt  deceased  at  Braintree,  Thursday."  * 

Morton,  in  his  Memorial,  makes  respectful  mention  of  Mr.  Flynt, 
as  "  a  man  of  known  piety,  gravity,  and  integrity,  and  well  accom- 
plished with  other  qualifications  fit  for  the  work  of  the  ministry." 

Mr.  Flynt's  children  f  were  as  follows,  viz.  Dorothy,  born  July  21, 
1642;  Annah,  born  Sept.  II,  1643;  Josiah,  born.  Aug.  24,  1645; 
Margaret,  born  June  20,  1647;  Joanna,  born  Feb.  18,  1648;  Da- 
vid, born  Jan.  11,  1651  ;  Seth,  born  April  2,  1653;  Ruth,  born  Jan. 
31,  1654;  Cotton  and  John,  born  Sept.  16,  1656.  Of  these,  Mar- 
garet, David,  and  the  twins,  Cotton  and  John,  died  in  infancy. 
Dorothy  was  married  to  Mr.  Samuel  Shepperd,  minister  of  Rowley, 
and  son  of  Rev.  Thos.  Shepperd  of  Cambridge,  April  30,  1666,  by 
Capt.  Gookins.  Annah,  or  Hannah,  which  is  doubtless  the  same, 
was  married  to  John  Dassitt,  Nov.  15,  1662,  by  Major  Millar.  Jo- 
anna was  married  to  Mr.  Noah  Numan  (Newman),  probably  son  of 
Rev.  Samuel  Newman,  minister  of  Rehoboth,  and  his  successor 
there  in  the  ministry.  They  were  married,  Dec.  30,  1669,  by  Capt. 
Gookins.  Seth  and  Ruth  were,  one  about  15  and  the  other  14 
years  old,  when  their  father  died.  Josiah  f  graduated  at  Harvard 
College,  1664,  preached  some  time  in  Braintree,  after  his  father's 
decease,  and  was  ordained  at  Dorchester,  27  Dec.  1671,  and  died 
16  Sept.  1680,  aged  35.  To  his  manuscript  journal  I  have  before 
referred.  The  three  first  pages  of  said  manuscript  contain  a  family 
record  in  different  hands,  partly  by  himself,  and  partly  perhaps  by 
his  son,  Tutor  Flynt.  His  widow,  Mrs.  Esther  Flynt,  §  died  July 
26,  1737,  aged  89,  and  was  buried  at  Braintry.  Henry  Flynt,  Esq.  || 
son  of  Rev.  Josiah  Flynt,  died  Feb.  13,  1760,  aged  85  years.  He 
had  been  a  Tutor  in  Harvard  University  upwards  of  fifty-five  years, 
and  about  sixty  years  a  Fellow  of  the  Corporation,  familiarly  called 
Father  Flynt.  He  was  never  settled  in  the  ministry,  but  preached 
as  occasion  required  ;  and  he  published  a  volume  of  sermons,  which 
were  received  acceptably  by  the  public.     He  lived  a  bachelor,  and 


*  Rev.  Josiah  Flynt's  manuscript  Journal  and  Hobart's  Diary. 

t  Braintree  Reg.         X  Farmer's  Gen.  Reg.        §  Josiah  Flynt's  MS.  Diary. 

||  This  account  of  Tutor  Flynt  is  taken  from  Peirce's  Hist,  of  Harv.  Univ. 


96 

was  noted  for  his  facetiousness  and  humor  mingled  with  gravity. 
It  was  proposed  in  some  parish  to  invite  him  to  take  the  pastoral 
charge  of  it ;  but  objections  were  made  to  him  on  the  ground,  that 
he  was  believed  not  to  be  orthodox.  Being  informed  of  this  judg- 
ment of  the  good  people  respecting  his  religion,  he  coolly  observed, 
"  I  thank  God  they  know  nothing  about  it."  In  his  last  sickness, 
Dr.  Appleton  asked  him,  if  he  was  entirely  willing  to  leave  the 
world.  "No,"  said  he,  "I  cannot  say  that  I  am";  but  after  a  short 
pause,  he  added,  "  I  don't  care  much  about  it."  A  room  is  still 
shown,  in  the  house  now  owned  and  occupied  in  this  town  by 
Daniel  Greenleaf,  Esq.,  which  goes  by  the  name  of  Flynt's  study, 
and  which  was  used  as  such  by  him,  when  Judge  Edmund  Quincy, 
who  married  Dorothy,  the  sister  of  Tutor  Flynt,  occupied  the  house. 
There  is,  in  the  possession  of  President  duincy,  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, a  manuscript  diary  of  Tutor  Flynt,  and  likewise  a  table, 
proved  to  be  his  by  having  a  single  drawer,  exactly  of  a  size  to  ad- 
mit said  diary. 

It  has  already  been  stated,  that  the  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of 
Rev.  Henry  Flynt  of  Braintree  was  Hoar.  She  was  probably  sister 
of  President  Hoar.  Mistress  Joanna  Hoar,*  probably  their  mother, 
died  a  widow  at  Braintree,  Dec.  21,  1664.  "Leonard  Hoar,f  the 
third  President  of  Harvard  College,  at  which  he  graduated,  in  1650, 
went  to  England,  was  a  physician  and  clergyman,  and  settled  as  the 
latter,  at  Wensted,  in  Essex.  He  was  ejected  from  office  for  non- 
conformity, and  returned  to  New  England,  1672,  and  in  July  was 
elected  president,  but  resigned,  15  March,  1675,  and  died  at  Brain- 
tree, 28  Nov.  same  year.  His  widow,  a  daughter  of  Lord  Lisle, 
married  Mr.  Usher,  of  Boston,  and  died  25  May,  1723."  She  is 
thus  spoken  of  by  Mr.  Hancock  :  "  His  aged  and  pious  relict,  the 
late  Madam  Usher,  was  brought  hither  from  Boston,  and  interred 
in  the  same  grave,  May  30,  1723,  according  to  her  desire."  |  The 
monument  over  their  remains  still  stands  in  our  burying  ground, 
and  bears  this  inscription  : 

"  Three  precious  friends  under  this  tomb-stone  lie, 
Patterns  to  aged,  youth,  and  infancy. 
A  great  mother,  her  learned  son,  with  child ; 
The  first  and  least  went  free,  he  was  exil'd. 

*  Braintree  Register.         t  Farmer's  Gen.  Reg.         i  Hancock's  Cent.  Disc. 


97 

In  love  to  Christ,  this  country,  and  dear  friends, 

He  left  his  own,  cross'd  seas,  and  for  amends 

Was  here  extoll'd,  envied,  all  in  a  breath, 

His  noble  consort  leaves,  is  drawn  to  death. 

Strange  changes  may  befall  us  ere  we  die, 

Blest  they  who  well  arrive  eternity. 

God  grant  some  names,  O  thou  New  England's  friend, 

Don't  sooner  fade  than  thine,  if  times  don't  mend." 

There  is  contained  in  the  Mass.  Historical  Collections  a  letter, 
dated  March  27,  1661,  from  Dr.  Leonard  Hoar,  then  in  England, 
to  Josiah  Flint,  his  nephew,  at  that  time  about  15  years  of  age,  and 
a  Freshman  in  Harvard  College.  Edmund  Quincy  and  Joanna 
Hoar,  (probably  a  sister  of  Dr.  Hoar  and  of  Mr.  Flynt's  wife,) 
were  married,  July  26,  1648.* 

Mr.  Flynt,  the  teacher  of  Braintree  church,  was  possessed  of  a 
comfortable  estate  for  those  times.  He  made  a  will,  a  copy  of 
which  I  have  taken  from  the  Suffolk  Probate  office. 

"The  Will  of  Henry  Flynt,  the  24th  day  of  11th  mo.  (January) 
1652. f 

"  Concerning  my  children  and  estate.  1.  Until  my  wife  or  any 
of  the  children  marry,  I  leave  all  my  estate  in  the  power  and  to  the 
wisdom  and  discretion  of  my  wife  for  her  comfort  and  bringing  up 
of  the  children.  2.  If  she  should  be  called  away  by  death,  before 
the  children  be  grown  to  take  some  care  of  themselves,  and  of  one 
another,  then  I  leave  it  to  her  wisdom  to  make  choice  of  the  next 
person  to  whom  she  may  commit  the  care  of  children  and  estate. 
3.  To  my  son  Josias  I  give  my  dwelling  house,  with  those  two  lots 
it  stands  upon,  which  I  bought  of  Richard  Wright  and  Mr.  Moses 
Paine  deceased,  together  with  all  that  land  of  mine  now  in  the  occu- 
pation of  Wm.  Vezie,  after  the  decease  of  his  mother.  4.  I  give 
to  my  son  Seth,  my  great  lot,  and  half  my  books,  if  it  please  God 
to  make  him  a  scholar.  5.  If  he  be  brought  up  to  some  other 
course  of  life,  then  his  brother  Josias  to  have  them  all,  and  to  allow 
him  for  half  in  some  pay  suitable  to  his  condition.  6.  To  my 
daughters,  I  appoint  each  of  them  an  hundred  pounds,  if  my  estate 
will  reach  it.  7.  If  any  of  my  children  marry  whilst  my  wife  doth 
live  and  continueth  unmarried,   I  leave  it  to  her  wisdom  what  por- 

*  Braintree  Register.  t  Probate  Records,  Vol.  VI.  p.  14. 

13 


98 

tion  to  give  at  present,  though  I  intend  that  finally  all  my  young 
children  should  be  made  equal.  8.  For  the  present,  I  know  not 
what  portion  of  my  estate  to  assign  to  my  wife,  in  case  God  call 
her  to  marriage,  otherwise  than  as  the  law  of  the  country  does  pro- 
vide in  that  case,  accounting  all  that  I  have  too  little  for  her,  if  I 
had  something  else  to  bestow  upon  my  children." 

"  Richard  Brackett,  aet.  56  years,  or  thereabouts,  deposed  saith, 
that  about  four  days  before  the  late  Mr.  Henry  Flynt  departed  this 
life,  himself  and  Mrs.  Joanna  Quinsey  being  with  him,  they  heard 
him  say  he  had  made  and  written  his  Will,  which  being  now  pro- 
duced under  Mr.  Flynt's  own  hand,  which  they  well  knew  to  be  so, 
and  the  sum  and  substance  thereof  he  himself  repeated  to  them, 
only  said  that  his  son  Josias  being  grown  up  should  be  his  Execu- 
tor, with  his  wife  Executrix. 

"  Taken  upon  oath  by  the  said  Richard  Brackett  before  the  Gov- 
ernor, Capt.  Gookin  ;  and  recorded  2  July,  1668,  who  allowed  of 
the  Will  hereby  proved. 

"  Edward  Rawson." 

In  the  absence  of  anything  else,  either  written  or  printed,  from 
the  pen  of  Mr.  Flynt,  I  have  thought  the  above  Will  might  be  in- 
serted here  as  a  relic  of  old  times. 


L.     Page  43. 

"  After  the  decease  both  of  the  Pastor  and  Teacher,"  observes 
Mr.  Hancock,  u  the  church  fell  into  unhappy  divisions,  one  being 
for  Paul,  and  another  for  Apollos,  (as  is  too  often  the  case  in  desti- 
tute churches,)  and  were  without  a  settled  ministry  above  four  years, 
viz.  from  April  27,  1668,  to  Sept.  11,  1672."* 

The  following  extract,  from  the  manuscript  of  Rev.  Josiah  Flynt, 
before  alluded  to,  may  help  to  explain  the  causes  of  the  dissensions 
which  continued  for  so  long  a  time. 

*  Hancock's  Cent.  Discourse. 


99 

"  On  6.  3mo.  1668.*  Persons  (D.  B.  and  U.Q.t)  came  to  me  to 
desire  me  from  several  of  the  church,  though  not  from  the  whole, 
to  exercise  in  Braintree  church. 

"  On  10.  3mo.  '68.  The  Elder  came  to  me  to  go  to  meeting,  but 
went  away  before,  and  made  a  proposition  to  the  church  whether 
they  were  willing  I  should  preach.  Many  uncomfortable  expres- 
sions passed  about,  but  at  last  Deacon  Bass  and  D.  El.  |  came,  in 
the  name  of  the  church,  to  desire  me  to  come  and  preach,  to  which 
not  knowing  any  thing  I  yielded. 

"  On  11.  3mo.  The  church  set  apart  a  day  to  seek  the  Lord  by 
fasting  and  prayer. 

"  On  13.  4m0.     I  preached  again  in  Braintree. 

"On  26.  4mo.  The  church  passed  a  vote  to  call  Mr.  Woodw:§ 
and  me  to  probation. 

"  On  14.  5mo.  Mr.  Eliott,  Mr.  Thatcher,  Mr.  Stoughton,  and 
Mr.  Torry  came,  being  desired  by  the  church  to  give  advice  about 
the  vote. 

"  20.  5mo.  The  vote  of  the  church  was  brought  to  me,  in  the 
name  of  the  church,  by  Deacon  Bass,  Capt.  Brackett,  Mr.  Paine, 
Mr.  Quinsey,  Goodman  Faxon. 

"27.  5mo.  The  Messengers  came  to  me  again,  and  brought  the 
vote  the  Elders'  letter. 

"  23.  6mo.  The  Elders  forementioned  sent  a  letter  to  the  church, 
which  was  read  publicly. 

"  6.  9mo.     The  church  set  apart. 

"  13.  9mo.     The  church  had  a  meeting. 

"  16.  9mo.  The  messengers  of  the  church  came  for  a  determi- 
nate answer. 

"  17.  9mo.  The  church  of  Christ  at  Cambridge  village  sent  me  a 
call. 

"  23.  9mo.  Messengers  came  from  Cambridge  village  for  my  an- 
swer. 

"  26.  9mo.     I  gave  an  answer  to  N.  Town  ||  in  writing. 

"  29.  I  gave  my  answer  to   Braintree  church  according  to 

the  vote. 

*  It  will  be  remembered,  that  March  was  the  first  month  of  the  year, 
t  These    abbreviations   probably  stand  for  Deacon   Bass  or  Brackett  and 
Uncle  Quinsey. 

\  Deacon  Eliot,  probably.  §  Woodward,  perhaps. 

||  The  ancient  name  of  Cambridge  was  Newtown. 


100 

"  13.  10mo.     I  engaged  to  help  the  church  wholly  for  the  winter. 

"  12.  12™.     The  church  had  a  meeting. 

''28.  I"'0.  1669.  Being  a  Sabbath  day,  the  church  had  a  very 
uncomfortable  debate  after  a  solemn  admonition. 

"  9.  2mo.  1669.  Deacon  B.*  and  Goodman  Sheaf  came  to  speak 
with  me. 

"  11.  2mo.  I  gave  a  full  answer  to  the  church  at  Cambridge  vil- 
lage. 

"24.  2mo.  I  gave  in  answer  to  the  church,  that  I  desired  relief, 
being  oppressed  in  body  and  mind. 

"  6.  3mo.  '69.     The  church  had  a  meeting. 

"22.  3m0.  Many  if  not  most  of  the  church  went  away  to  Milton 
to  hear  Mr.  Th.t 

"  20.  4m0.  Being  a  Sabbath  day,  there  was  a  very  uncomfortable 
debate  in  the  church. 

"  18.  5mo.  Some  of  the  brethren  desired  a  time  of  solemn  seek- 
ing of  God  jointly  by  fasting  and  prayer  :  it  was  denied. 

"  23.  5m0.  Some  of  the  church  set  apart  a  day  of  fasting  and 
prayer.     This  day  there  was  an  awful  division. 

"25.  5mo.  God  sent  a  very  solemn,  awakening  message  to  the 
church  by  Mr.  Eliot  from  6.  Jer.  29.  30. 

"  The  honored  Major  Lusher  J  and  Rd.  Mr.  Allin  sent  letters  to 
the  church  to  advise  them  to  unity  and  peace,  certifying  the 
thoughts  of  some  of  the  jElders  to  send  in  a  council  uncalled  for. 

"  2.  6mo.  '69.  The  church  had  a  meeting,  disannulled  their  last 
vote,  and  passed  a  new  vote. 

"  They  sent  Deacon  Bass,  Mr.  Q,.  §  Goodman  Bel:  ||  and  Faxon 
to  desire  my  help  constantly.  I  deferred  my  answer.  Deacon 
Bass,  Mr.  Paine,  and  Mr.  Quinsey  went  to  carry  the  vote  of  the 
church  to  Mr.  B.ff  Mr.  Bulkley  delayed  his  answer  till  the  com- 
mencement, 10.  6m0.  '69,  and  then  desired  further  time. 

"  22.  6mo.     Mr.  Bulkley  came  to  us. 

"  8.  7mo.  '69.  The  whole  town  met  to  consider  what  they  would 
allow. 

"  3.  9mo.     The  church  had  a  meeting. 

"  15.  9mo.     The  church  had  a  meeting,   and  concluded  to  allow 

*  Deacon  Bass,  probably.  t  Mr.  Thatcher,  probably, 

t  This  person  belonged  to  Dedham,  and  was  prominent  in  his  day. 
§  Quinsey.  ||  Belcher.  IT  Bulkley. 


101 

60  pounds  pr.  annum  to  each,  and  the  use  of  the  town  land  for  a 
pasture.  The  Elder  with  the  greatest  part  of  the  church  came  to 
certify  us  of  it. 

"16.  llmo.  The  church  stayed  after  meeting,  and  agreed  to 
meet  on  6th  day  following. 

"21.  Um0.  The  church  met  and  acknowledged  several  things 
scandalous  and  offensive,  one  to  another. 

"  7.  12mo.     I  helped  the  church  again  wholly  for  a  while. 

"  1.  lmo.  1670.  The  church  (moved  by  Mr.  Bulkley)  set  apart  a 
day  for  public  prayer  and  fasting. 

"  28.  lm0.  The  church  had  a  meeting,  and  passed  an  act  of 
election  for  Mr.  Bulkley  and  me.  Deacon  Bass,  Mr.  Paine,  Mr. 
Quinsey,  and  Goodman  Belcher  came  as  messengers  to  us,  but  said 
nothing  of  the  matter  of  the  vote,  for  it  was  not  single. 

"  31.  lm0.  The  messengers  came  to  Mr.  Bulkley  and  afterward 
to  me.     We  jointly  desired  time  to  consider. 

"  3.  2mo.  1670.  The  church  of  Dedham  writ  a  letter,  and  chose 
messengers  to  come  and  inquire  in  this  church's  state  the  next  S.* 

"  19.  2mo.  I  gave  my  judgment,  if  not  my  answer,  to  the  vote, 
it  being  proposed  to  me  in  general  by  the  Elders.  Dedham  mes- 
sengers hearing  what  was  done  by  the  church  on  28.  lmo.  were  pre- 
vented coming  this  day  to  us. 

"  20.  2mo.  Some  of  the  church  (having  heard  of  a  writing  given 
by  their  brethren  and  accepted  by  Mr.  B.,f  which  raised  a  strong 
jealousy  in  them  that  they  had  engaged  him  to  themselves)  sent  a 
messenger,  Capt.  Brackett,  to  certify  Mr.  B.  how  the  matter  stood. 

"  Letters  were  sent  to  Dedham, Cambridge,  Roxbury,  Weymouth, 
to  this  purpose  : 

"  '  Rd.  and  Beld.  As  we  presume  you  have  not  been  wholly  ig- 
norant of  or  void  of  sympathy  with  us  in  our  distress,! 

"  24.  2mo.  Mr.  Eliott  preached  here,  and  prevented  much  evil 
intended. 

"  12.  3mo.  The  Question  about  the  vote  was  by  Mr.  Bulkley 
propounded  to  the  Elders. 

"  15.  3mo.  Mr.  Phil.  §  helped  the  church,  and  so  moderated  their 
spirits. 

*  Sabbath,  probably.  t  Bulkley,  probably. 

t  The  letter  missive  is  left  in  the  manuscript  incomplete. 
§  Phillips,  perhaps. 


102 

"31.  3mo.  The  church  had  a  meeting,  and  concluded  jointly  to 
send  to  six  churches  for  their  messengers. 

"  5.  4mo.  The  church  had  debate,  wherein  much  provocation  to 
God  and  each  other  did  appear.  They  sent  to  Mr.  Bulkley,  but  he 
refused  to  come,  till  the  meeting  of  the  Council  was  over." 

It  seems,  also,  by  a  document  contained  in  the  manuscript  journal 
of  Mr.  Josiah  Flynt,  that  he  had  been  harged,  by  certain  of  the 
brethren  of  Braintree  church,  with  uttering  "  divers  dangerous 
heterodoxies,  delivered,  and  that  without  caution,  in  his  public 
preaching."  The  matter  was  referred  to  several  highly  respected 
individuals,  who  vindicate  him  from  the  charge  which  was  brouo-ht 
against  him. 

Mr.  Flynt  received  a  call  from  Dorchester,  and  was  settled  over 
the  church  in  that  town,  in  the  year  1670.    He  died  there  in  1680. 

Mr.  Peter  Bulkley,  who  was  candidate  at  the  same  time  with 
Mr.  Flynt,  was  probably  a  son  of  the  first  minister  of  Concord. 


M.     Pages  44,  45. 

Moses  Fiske,  it  has  already  been  stated,  was  the  son  of  Mr. 
John  Fiske,  the  first  minister  of  Wenham  and  Chelmsford.  His 
father  was  born  in  England  in  1601,  and  was  educated  at  Cam- 
bridge. He  came  to  this  country  in  1637,  bringing  with  him  a 
large  property.  He  lived  three  years  at  Salem,  preaching  to  the 
church,  and  instructing  a  number  of  young  persons.  When  a 
church  was  gathered  in  Enon,  or  Wenham,  Oct.  8,  1644,  he  was 
settled  there  as  minister.  In  1656  he  removed  to  Chelmsford,  then 
a  new  town,  with  the  majority  of  his  church.  He  died,  Jan.  14, 
1677.  He  was  a  skilful  physician,  as  well  as  an  excellent  minis- 
ter.* 

The  occasion  and  reasons  of  Mr.  Moses  Fiske's  first  visit  to 
Braintree,  with  an  account  of  the  formation  of  the  connexion  that 
resulted  from  it,  are  given  below,  as  I  find  them  recorded  in  his  own 
hand-writing,  f 

*  See  Allen's  Biographical  Dictionary,  and  Mather's  Magnalia. 
t  Braintree  Church  Records.     Book  I. 


103 

"  Being  ordered  by  the  Court,  and  advised  by  the  reverend  Elders 
and  other  friends,  I  went  up  from  the  honored  Mr.  Edvvd.  Tyng's,  with 
two  of  the  brethren  of  this  church,  sent  to  accompany  me  (2.  10  mo., 
1671)  beino;  the  Saturday,  to  preach  God's  word  unto  them,  a  tran- 
script of  which  order,  &c.  follows  verbatim. 

"  At  a  County  Court  held  at  Boston,  by  adjournment,  the  23d 
of  Nov.  1671.  The  Court  having  taken  into  consideration  the 
many  means  that  have  been  used  with  the  Church  of  Braintree,  and 
hitherto  nothing  done  to  effect,  as  to  the  obtaining  the  ordinances  of 
Christ  amongst  them,  this  Court  therefore  orders  and  desires  Mr. 
Moses  Fiske  to  improve  his  labors  in  preaching  the  word  at  Brain- 
tree,  until  the  Church  there  agree  and  obtain  supply  for  the  work 
of  the  ministry,  or  this  court  take  further  order.  This  a  true  copy,  as 
"  Attest,  Freegrace  Bendall,  Clerk. 
"3.  10.  71.  After  evening  exercise  was  ended,  I  apologized  as 
to  my  coming,  &lc. 

"4.  10.  71.  About  20  of  the  brethren  came  to  visit  at  Mr.  Flynt's, 
manifesting  (in  the  name  of  the  church)  their  ready  acceptance  ot' 
what  the  Honored  Court  had  done,  (having  received  and  perused 
their  order,  with  letters  sent  to  their  Townsmen  respecting  their 
duty  towards  their  minister,)  and  thanking  me  for  my  compliance 
therewith. 

"  24.  12.  71.  The  Church,  by  their  messengers  (Capt.  Brackett, 
Lieut.  Quinsey,  Deacon  Bass,  John  Doscet,  sen.,  Gregory  Belchar, 
Will.  Veazy,  sen.,  Saml.  Tompson)  did  jointly  and  unanimously  de- 
sire my  settlement  amongst  them,  and  that  in  order  to  office. 

"  14.  2.  72.  Having  advised,  I  gave  the  church,  after  evening 
exercise  was  finished,  (being  often  urged  thereto,)  an  answer  of  ac- 
ceptance, through  God's  assistance,  understanding  the  concurrence 
of  the  neighbors  which  was  partly  expressed,  partly  tacit. 

"5.  3.  72.  The  Church  passed  a  vote  of  Election  (3  or  4  sus- 
pending, who  after  acceptance,  &c,  manifested  their  hearty  concur- 
rence). 

"  18.  6.  72.  This  day  joined  with  this  church,  (having  obtained 
letters  of  recommendation  and  dismission  from  the  Church  of  Christ 
at  Chelmsford,  by  means  of  Capt.  Brackett  and  Deac.  Eliot  sent  to 
that  end,)  Deacon  Bass  being  desired  pro  tempore  to  be  the  mouth 
of  the  Church.  Also  I  gave  my  answer  of  acceptance  to  their  call  to 
office,  the  Rev.  Elders  and  others  advising  and  often  renewing  their 
request  to  that  end. 


104 

"  11.  7.  72.  This  was  the  day  of  my  solemn  espousals  to  this 
Church  and  Congregation,  being  elected  to  the  office  of  a  Pastor  to 
them.  The  churches  present,  by  their  messengers,  were  these;  three 
at  Boston,  Roxbury,  Dorchester,  and  Weymouth,  six  churches.  Mr. 
Eliot  prayed  and  gave  the  charge  ;  Mr.  Oxenbridge  and  the  Deacons 
joined  in  the  laying  on  hands;  Mr.  Thatcher  gave  the  right  hand  of 
fellowship.  Dep.  Gov.  Leverit,  Mr.  Danforth,  Mr.  Tynge,  and  Mr. 
Stoughton  were  present." 

In  the  Town  Records,*  in  connexion  with  the  subject  of  providing 
a  house  for  the  Minister,  a  vote  is  found  directing  that  a  baro-ain 
with  Mr.  Samuel  Tompson  should  be  concluded  for  his  house,  orch- 
ard, &>c,  and  then  the  following  : 

"  At  the  same  Town  meeting  (18  June,  1672)  it  was  voted  that 
the  town  of  Braintree  would  give  to  Mr.  Moses  Fiske  the  just  sum 
of  £60  in  money,  as  by  a  town  rate,  and  he  to  make  provision  for 
himself  as  housing,  or  else  to  live  in  a  town  house  provided  for 
the  ministry.  And  the  house  and  land  bought  by  the  town,  of 
brother  Saml.  Tompson,  being  about  5  acres  and  a  half,  or  6  acres, 
to  be  fenced,  and  housing  set  in  good  repair." 

And  again  the  following: 

"  1674,  Oct.  26.  At  a  public  town  meeting  it  was  voted  and 
consented  to  by  the  major  vote,  that  our  Pastor,  Mr.  Moses  Fiske, 
should  have  <£80  for  this  year — 74,  in  wood  part  and  corn,  at  the 
country  rate  price, f  which  was  barley  4s.,  pease  4s.,  Indian  3s., 
malt  4s." 

"  Mr.  Fiske  died  here,  Aug.  10,  1708,  in  the  66th  year  of  his  age, 
and  36th  of  his  pastorate.  In  the  time  of  his  ministry  147  mem- 
bers were  added  to  the  church,  including  himself.  Baptisms  779. 
No  baptisms  recorded  in  the  time  of  vacancy."  J  On  his  tomb  stone, 
which  is  still  standing  in  our  burying  place,  is  this  inscription  : 

"  Braintree  !     Thy  prophet's  gone,  this  tomb  inters 
The  Rev.  Moses  Fiske  his  sacred  herse. 
Adore  heaven's  praiseful  art  that  formed  the  man, 
Who  souls  not  to  himself,  but  Christ  oft  won : 
Sail  'd  through  the  straits  with  Peter's  family, 
Renown  'd,  and  Gaius'  hospitality, 
Paul's  patience,  James's  prudence,  John's  sweet  love, 
Is  landed,  enter 'd,  clear 'd,  and  crown 'd  above." 

*  Braintree  Town  Records,  Book  I. 

t  "Country  rate;"  that  is,  the  rate  at  which  the  articles  specified  were 
taken  in  payment  of  taxes.  J  Hancock's  Cent.  Disc. 


105 

His  will  and  an  inventory  of  his  estate  I  have  found  in  the  Suf- 
folk Probate  Records. 

Mr.  Fiske  was  twice  married.  His  first  marriage  is  thus  re- 
corded :  * 

"Mr.  Moses  Fiske  of  Braintree  and  Mrs.  Sarah  Symmes,  daugh- 
ter of  Mr.  Win.  Symmes  of  Charleston,  married  9,  7  mo.  1671  by 
Capt.  Gookin,  assistant."  By  this  wife,  he  was  favored  with  four- 
teen children,  whose  names,  and  the  dates  of  whose  births  are  thus 
recorded  :f 

"The  names  of  the  children   of  Rev.  Mr.  Moses  Fiske,  by  Mrs. 
Sarah,  his  wife,  entered  29  Jany.,  1695  -  6,  viz. 
born      25  Aug.,  1673. 
22  Sept.,  1674. 

25  Nov.,  1675,  and  died  28  same  mo. 
17  Aug.,  1677,  died  9  June,  '78. 
29  Oct.,   1678. 

9     "       1679. 
"         29  May,  1681,  died,  5  Aug.,  same  yr. 
19  July,  1682. 

26  Nov.,  1684. 
2  Aug.,  1686. 

19  Feb.,  1687,  died  4  March. 
6  Apr.,  1689. 

24  Mar.,  1692,  died  6  June. 

20  Oct.,   1692,  died  25  of  the  same. 

Mrs.  Sarah,  wife  of  Mr.  Moses  Fiske,  died  2  Dec.  1692.  Mr. 
Fiske's  second  wife  was  Mrs.  Anna  Quinsey.  She  was  the  daugh- 
ter of  the  Rev.  Thos.  Shepard  of  Charlestown.j  Their  marriage 
is  thus  recorded  :  "  Rev.  Moses  Fiske  and  Mrs.  Anna  Quinsey 
married  7  Jany.  1700  by  Samuel  Sewall  Esq."§  —  By  her  he  had  two 
children,  namely,  Mr.  Shepard,  son  of  Rev.  Moses  Fiske  and  Anna, 
born  19  April,  1703,  and  Mrs.  Margaret,  born  16  Dec.  1705.  Mr. 
Fiske's  second  wife  died,  24  July,  1708,  less  than  three  weeks  be- 
fore his  own  decease. 

Of  Mr.  Fiske's  children,  it  will  be  seen  by  the  list  already  given, 
six  died  in  infancy.  The  eldest  daughter,  Mary,  married  Rev. 
Joseph   Baxter,  minister  of  Medfield,  and  a  native  of  Braintree. 

*  Braintree  Reg.  t  Ibid.  i  Fairfield's  Diary.  §  Braintree  Reg. 

14 


Mrs 

s.  Mary 

K 

Sarah 

tt 

Martha 

ii 

Anna 

<< 

Ann 

<« 

Elizabeth 

Mr. 

John 

ft 

Moses 

<( 

John 

tt 

William 

n 

Samuel 

(I 

a 

Mrs 

.  Ruth 

Mr. 

Edward 

106 

Sarah  is  mentioned  in  her  father's  will,  as  "  late  consort  of  Rev.  Thos. 
Ruggles."  Ann  Fiske  was  married  to  Rev.  Joseph  Marsh,*  the  suc- 
cessor of  her  father  in  Braintree,  by  Colonel  Edmund  Gtuinsey,  Esq., 
30  June,  1709.  Elizabeth  is  called  in  the  will,  Elizabeth  Porter. 
Of  Moses  and  William  I  find  no  account;  and  nothing  respecting 
John,  with  the  exception  of  his  admission  to  the  church,  26,  6  mo. 
1705.  In  Fairfield's  Diary,  it  will  be  seen  that  a  John  Fiske 
preached  in  Braintree  in  1710,  and  there  graduated  at  Harvard  Col- 
lege one  of  this  name  in  1702.  Samuel  graduated  at  Harvard  Col- 
lege in  1708.  He  was  chosen,  says  Mr.  Lincoln,f  11  Feb.  1716-  17, 
minister  of  Hingham,  as  successor  to  Mr.  Norton,  but  did  not  see  fit 
to  accept.  He  was  ordained  over  the  First  Church  in  Salem,  Oct.  8, 
1718,  and  was  afterwards  minister  of  the  Third  Church  in  Salem, 
and  died  7  April,  1770,  aged  81. 

Shepard,  son  of  Mr.  Fiske  by  his  second  wife,  was  "  graduated  at 
Harvard  College  1721,  was  a  physician  at  Killingly,  Conn,  and  at 
Bridgewater,  Mass.,  died  14  June,  1779,  jE.  77.J  Margaret  Fiske 
was  married  to  Rev.  Nathan  Bucknam  of  Med  way,  January  23, 
1727-8,  by  Mr.  Hancock." 

I  do  not  know  that  any  of  Mr.  Fiske's  writings  were  ever  pub- 
lished. He  preached  the  sermon  before  the  Artillery  Company,  on 
the  day  of  their  annual  election,  June  4,  1694,  and  the  original 
sermon,  in  the  hand-writing  of  the  author,  is  in  the  archives  of  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society.  The  text  is  taken  from  Eph.  vi. 
14  :  "  Stand  (therefore)."  The  preacher  applies  the  text  to  the 
spiritual  warfare  which  every  Christian  must  carry  on  in  this  world 
under  his  great  Captain  General,  Jesus  Christ. 

A  passage  taken  from  the  conclusion  of  this  discourse  will  an- 
swer as  a  specimen. 

"  Take  the  whole  armor  of  God,  put  it  on,  wear  it  and  use  it. 
You  '11  need  every  piece  of  it.  You  cannot  stand  without  it ;  the 
girdle  of  truth,  breastplate  of  righteousness,  &c,  that  you  may 
withstand,  and  having  done  all  may  stand  ;  stand  so.  See  that  you 
stand  true  and  faithful  to  Jesus  Christ  and  to  his  word.  Keep  the 
word  of  his  patience.  Stand  by  the  Gospel  ministry,  for  by  it  the 
powers  of  darkness  are  vanquished  and  kingdom  of  Satan  de- 
stroyed.    This  opens  a  magazine  of  arms  and   furniture   for   your 

*  Braintree  Register.  t  History  of  Hingham.  t  Farmer's  Gen.  Reg. 


107 

souls.     God's  word  is  the  Tower  of  David,  wherein   there  hang  a 
thousand  bucklers,  all  shields  of  the  mighty. 

"  What  remains  but  that  you,  Gentlemen  Soldiers,  my  fellow  sol- 
diers in  the  spiritual  warfare,  who  have  called  me  to  this  work,  and 
desired  to  inquire  of  God  this  day,  be  true  to  the  Captain  of  your 
salvation,  your  Lord  and  ours.  Take  courage  and  go  on  in  your 
military  discipline,  that  you  may  be  as  those  children  that  resemble 
their  Captain  and  their  King;  like  those  that  could  handle  the 
sword,  and  were  expert  in  war.  This  Captain  of  salvation,  who 
is  the  Prince  of  peace,  is  a  man  of  war;  the  art  military  is  of  God. 
This  art  is  taught  by  him  who  is  the  Captain  of  the  Lord's  Host. 
'Tis  observable  that  some  of  the  most  renowned  worthies  in  the 
spiritual  warfare  have  been  expert  commanders  in  the  art  military. 
Abraham  had  his  trained  soldiers.  Moses,  the  Captain  of  the  wilder- 
ness, led  the  Israelites  and  kept  them  in  a  military  posture.  And 
David,  who  was  a  man  after  God's  own  heart,  was  a  brisk  and 
brave  commander.  Labor  for  the  courage,  skill,  and  conduct, 
which  may  make  able  and  expert  soldiers  and  commanders,  and  read 
Ps.  cxlvii.  7,  8. 

"  Finally,  Be  strong,  O  Zerubbabel,  be  strong  O  Joshua ;  be 
strong,  O  all  ye  Christian  soldiers ;  watch  ye,  stand  fast  in  the  faith, 
quit  yourselves  like  men  ;  be  strong;  be  strong  in  the  Lord  and  in 
the  power  of  his  might.  Let  me  add  this  word,  and  I  have  done. 
You  that  are  the  Governors  of  Judah,  and  those  of  the  tribe  of 
Levi,  my  brethren  and  fathers,  who  are  set  for  the  defence  of  the 
Gospel,  you  all  that  have  listed  under  the  Lord  Jesus,  your  leader  in 
the  Christian  warfare,  of  what  calling  and  employment  soever,  lift 
up  your  heads,  and  go  on  manfully,  and  prosecute  this  holy  war 
against  the  enemies  of  God  and  your  souls  ;  fight  it  out  to  the  last ; 
that  when  you  come  to  die,  you  may  with  that  great  warrior  be  able 
to  say  :  '  we  have  fought  a  good  fight,  we  have  finished  our  course, 
we  have  kept  the  faith ;  henceforth  is  laid  up  a  crown  of  righteous- 
ness which  God  shall  give,'  &»c.  Amen." 

It  is  rather  a  singular  fact,  and  this  seems  to  be  the  place  to  men- 
tion it,  that  in  the  Inventory  of  Mr.  Fiske's  estate,  one  item  is  as 
follows  :  "  His  armor." 

Fairfield's  Diary  has  been  already  alluded  to.  It  was  presented 
to  the  Library  of  the  Historical  Society,  by  Rev.  Dr.  Harris.  The 
author  of  the  Diary  appears  to  have  been   a  mason  by  trade.     The 


108 

manuscript  consists  of  memoranda  respecting  the  places  where  he 
worked,  and  notices  of  such  events  and  occurrences  as  seemed  im- 
portant to  the  writer.  It  does  not  contain  much  of  any  great 
value.  But  the  true  antiquary,  like  the  true  lover  of  the  angle, 
makes  much  of  a  nibble  in  the  waters  of  the  past,  if  he  can  catch 
no  fish.  And  so  I  give  an  extract  from  said  Diary.  It  runs  for- 
ward, as  will  be  observed,  a  little  distance  into  Mr.  Marsh's  min- 
istry. 

"  1697,  May  13.  A  fasting  day,  our  Church  in  Braintree  renewed 
Covenant. 

"  Dec.  17.     I  watched  with  Mr.  Quinsey. 

"  1697-8,  Jany.  8.  Mr.  Quinsey  died,  a  pious  and  godly  man, 
a  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  this  County,  and  Lt.  Col.  of  this  Reg. 

"  Jan.  10.  Helped  dig  Mr.  Quinsey's  grave,  frost  is  one  and 
near  two  feet  thick. 

"  Jan.  11.  Made  an  end  of  digging,  bricked  the  grave  —  weather 
warm. 

"Jan.  12.  Mr.  Quinsey  decently  buried  —  three  foot  companies 
and  one  troop  at  his  funeral. 

"  1697-8,  April.  We,  in  Braintree,  chose  a  Committee  to  seat 
persons  in  the  meeting  house.  Deacon  Wales,  Deacon  Bass,  Mr. 
Hobart,  Martin  Saunders,  John  Ruggles,  sen.  They  did  the  work, 
though  not  to  general  satisfaction.  The  first  Sabbath  in  April  peo- 
ple took  their  places,  as  many  as  saw  good  so  to  do. 

"  1699,  Sept.  16.     I  carted  stones  for  Mr.  Q,uinsey's  tomb. 

"Sept.  19. 

"  As  to  this  Sept.  past  I  did  not  hear  of  any  great  matter,  only  the 
woods  swarmed  much  with  bears  —  many  were  killed,  and  more 
escaped. 

"  Oct.  5.     Went  to  Boston  to  lecture.     Mr.  Fiske  preached. 

"1699-1700,  Jan.  1.  Very  cold  —  old  Lawrence  Copeland 
buried,  aged  100  yrs.,  who  died  last  Saty.,  Dec.  30. 

"  March  23.     Mended  Doctor  Hoar's  monument. 

"  June  19.     Meeting  to  nominate  deacons. 

"  Novem.  30.  Among  ourselves  died  several,  the  most  consider- 
able of  whom  was  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Quinsey,  widow  of  Lt.  Col. 
Edmd.  Quinsey  Esq.,  she  was  sick  many  weeks  and  underwent 
much  sorrow  and  dolor ;  and  after  all  fell  asleep  quietly  in  the  Lord, 
and  was  with  great  solemnity  interred,  Dec.  5,  1700. 


109 

"  1700-1,  Jan.  7.     Mr.  Fiske  married  to  Mrs.  Anna  Quinsey. 

"  Jan.  8.  I  was  at  Mr.  Fiske's,  he  brought  home  his  bride. 

"  Jan.  26.      A    day    of  fasting    and    prayer    in    Braintree.     Mr. 
Wales  ordained  a  ruling  elder  of  the  Church  in  Braintree. 

11  1704,  July  9.     Sabbath,   Mr.  Fiske  sick,   Mr.    Veasy  preached 
forenoon,  Mr.  Flynt  afternoon. 

"  July  16.  Mr.  Loring  preached  all  day  in  B.,  Mr.  Fiske  being 
sick. 

"  July  23.     Mr.  Ransom  of  Mendon  preached  all  day. 

"  Nov.  10.  I  was  at  home  all  day,  the  meeting  at  my  house, 
Mr.  Fiske  read  a  sermon  of  his  own,  1  Cor.  ii.  32. 

"  1704  -  5,  Jan.  In  this  month  past  we  had  two  Church  meetings  in 
Braintree  which  occasioned  much  debate  and  some  misapprehension, 
about  Church  discipline ;  by  reason  whereof  we  had  much  sinful 
discourse  in  this  town;  for,  as  the  wise  man  saith,  in  the  multitude 
of  words  there  wants  not  sin  :  which  words  and  debates  caused  such 
differences  as  that  it  was  the  beginning  of  the  separation  of  the 
Town  and  Church,  and  the  erecting  a  meeting  house  and  forming  a 
Congregation  at  Monatoquod.  Nine  of  the  church  withdrew  from 
the  Lord's  table,  and  in  many  things  acted  so  disorderly,  as  that  it 
occasioned  a  council  of  the  elders  and  messengers  of  nine  churches, 
who  met  in  the  old  meeting  house  in  Braintree,  May  7,  1707.  Mr. 
Nehemiah  Hobart  of  Newtown  was  chosen  moderator.  The  disor- 
ders among  us  call  for  tears  and  lamentations,  rather  than  to  be  re- 
membered. 

"  1705,  March  16.  Died,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Edward  Thompson, 
Pastor  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  Marshfield ;  he  died  very  sud- 
denly, Mt.  near  40  yrs. 

"  1706,  May  2.  A  new  house  was  raised  in  Braintree,  for  a 
meeting  house.  The  matter  hath  been  hitherto  carried  on  in  a  way 
of  great  contention  and  disorder. 

"  1707,  April  27.  The  Sabbath,  at  night  a  council  chosen  to 
hear  our  aggrieved  brethren. 

"  May  7.  We  being  involved  in  troubles,  here  in  Braintree, 
called  a  council  of  nine  churches,  who  assembled  the  7th  day  here 
in  B.     What  the  issue  was,  we  shall  take  notice  of  afterwards. 

"  1707,  Sept.  10.  Mr.  Adams  was  ordained  at  the  new  church 
in  the  south  part  of  Braintree. 

"  1708,  July  25.  The  Sabbath,  Mr.  Fiske  sick,  Mr.  Flynt 
preached  all  day. 


110 

"  July  26.     Opened  Mr.  Fiske's  tomb. 

"  July  27.  At  Mr.  Fiske's  all  day  about  the  funeral  of  Mrs.  Fiske. 

"On  the  24th  of  this  month  died,  in  Braintree,  Mrs.  Anna 
Fiske,  the  wife  of  Mr.  Moses  Fiske,  in  the  45th  year  of  her  age. 

"  1708,  Aug.  10.    Mr.  Fiske  died,  JEt.  65  yrs. 

"  All  the  beginning  of  this  month  the  Rev.  Mr.  Moses  Fiske, 
Pastor  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  Braintree,  lay  sick  of  a  sore 
malignant  fever  ;  and  on  the  10th  day,  being  Tuesday,  about  one 
of  the  clock  P.  M.  he  died,  willingly,  patiently,  blessed  God,  and 
forgave  all  his  enemies.  To  say  all  that  might  be  said  of  this  holy 
man,  far  exceeds  my  poor  ability.  He  was  the  youngest  son  of  Mr. 
John  Fiske,  Pastor  of  the  Church  in  Chelmsford.  [Then  follows  his 
character  which  has  been  given  in  the  second  Discourse.]  He  was, 
with  suitable  solemnity  and  great  lamentation,  interred  in  Braintree, 
in  his  own  tomb,  the  12th  day,  where  lie  entombed  with  him  the 
bodies  of  his  two  wives,  Sarah,  the  daughter  of  Wm.  Syms  Esq., 
of  Woborn.  She  died  Dec.  2,  1692  ;  by  her  he  had  14  children, 
she  died  in  the  40th  year  of  her  age. 

"  His  2d  wife  was  Anna,  the  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Thos. 
Shepard  of  Charlestown  ;  by  her  he  had  two  children  ;  she  died, 
July  24,  1708.     ^Et.  45  yrs. 

"  1708,  Sept.  15.  A  day  of  fasting  in  B.  on  account  of  Mr. 
Fiske's  death.  Mr.  Danforth  and  Mr.  Thacher  carried  on  the  day's 
work. 

"  Nov.  25.  A  Thanksgiving,  we  having  no  minister,  I  heard  Mr. 
Adams  the  first  time. 

"  Oct.  24.     Sabbath,  Mr.  Bridge  preached. 

«     «    31.         "  "     Marsh         " 

"  Nov.  15.     A  church  meeting  to  call  a  minister. 

"P.  M.     A  meeting  of  the  inhabitants. 

"  Nov.  23.     A  precinct  meeting. 

"  Dec.  13.  I  warned  a  meeting  to  consult  about  receiving  Mr. 
Marsh. 

"  Dec.  16.  At  Mr.  Fisk's  all  day  helping  to  prepare  for  Mr. 
Marsh ;  he  came  at  night  attended  with  the  most  of  the  inhabitants 
of  this  precinct. 

tt  1708-9,  Jan.  17.  A  general  town  meeting  to  vote  what  to 
give  Mr.  Marsh. 

"  Jan.  28.  A  precinct  meeting  voted  to  give  Mr.  M.  ,£100. 
.£70  pr.  annum. 


Ill 

"  Feb.  14.     A  precinct  meeting  about  Mr.  Marsh. 
"  March  14.     A  meeting  of  this  precinct,  Mr.  Marsh  gave  an  an- 
swer of  his  acceptance. 

"  1709,  May  4.     A  fast  in  our  church,  in  order  to  ordination. 
"  May  18.     Mr.  Marsh  ordained. 

"  On  the  ISth  day  was  ordained,  here  in  Braintree,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Joseph  Marsh,  to  the  office  of  a  Pastor  over  the  church  in  the  North 
Precinct,  a  person  of  singular  accomplishments,  both  natural  and 
acquired. 

"  July  3.  The  Sabbath,  sacrament,  the  first  time  Mr.  Marsh 
administered. 

"  July  31.  The  Sabbath,  Mr.  Flint  preached  from  11.  Matt. 
xxviii. 

"  Aug.  5.     Ceiled  Mr.  duinsey's  pew. 

"  Oct.  2.  The  Sabbath,  this  day  I  heard  a  choice  sermon  on 
Ps.  xix.  and  12.  '  Who  can  understand  his  errors  ; '  which  hath 
caused  me  to  reflect  on  the  past  sinful  errors  of  my  life,  all  which 
I  beg  of  God  to  forgive  me.  This  day  also  Mr.  Marsh  preached  on 
Isai.  55.  and  7.,  wherein  I  was  encouraged  to  return  to  the  Lord, 
that  I  may  obtain  pardon  and  forgiveness. 

"  1709-10,  Feb.  19.  Sabbath,  sacrament.  The  advice  of  the 
ministers  read  for  reconciliation.  The  South  Church's  acknowledg- 
ment read  and  accepted. 

"  March  8.  A  fast  on  the  account  of  the  late  disturbances  in  the 
town  and  Church.  Mr.  Danforth  and  Mr.  Thacher  of  Milton 
preached. 

"March  19.  Sabbath,  Mr.  Adams  preached  in  our  meeting 
house. 

"  1710,  April  30.  The  Sabbath,  a  gathering  to  print  two  ser- 
mons. 

"  Aug.  13.     Mr.  Mayhew  preached  from  ii.  Heb.  3. 
"  Aug.  20.    Mr.  John  Fiske  preached. 
"  Oct.  29.     Sabbath,  Mr.  John  Fiske  preached. 
"  Mrs.  Mary  Baxter,  wife  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Joseph  Baxter,  died, 
after  a  long  and  sore  sickness,  March  29,  1711.     She  was  the  eldest 
daughter  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Moses  Fiske,  died  in  the  38th  year  of  her 
age. 

"  Mrs.  Helen  French,  the  mother  of  Wm.  Veasie,  and  daughter 
of  Rev.  Mr.  Wm.  Tompson,  deceased,  died,  Apr.  23.  Mt.  85  yrs. 
1711,  an  aged  saint." 


112 

(Who  is  meant  by  the  person  last  mentioned,  I  cannot  satisfy 
myself.) 

The  most  important  ecclesiastical  occurrence,  during  Mr.  Fiske's 
ministry,  was  the  division  of  the  Town  into  separate  Precincts  ; 
and  this  seems  to  have  been  the  only  occurrence  that  disturbed  the 
tranquillity  of  his  ministry.  The  first  mention  of  the  subject  in 
the  Town  Records  is  as  follows :  * 

"  Nov.  25,  1706.  Proposed,  that,  whereas  there  were  two  meet- 
ing houses  erected  in  this  Town,  whether  the  South  End  shall  be  a 
congregation  by  themselves  for  the  worship  and  service  of  God.  It 
was  then  voted  by  the  major  part  of  said  inhabitants  on  the  affir- 
mative." 

And  again  : 

"  Nov.  3,  1708.  The  inhabitants  of  Braintree  being  met,  &c. 
It  was  then  voted,  that  there  should  be  two  distinct  precincts  or  so- 
cieties in  this  Town,  for  the  more  regular  and  convenient  uphold- 
ing of  the  worship  of  God." 

The  separation  of  the  town  into  two  precincts  was  agreed  to 
and  confirmed,  by  the  General  Court,  Nov.  5,  1708.  But  before 
this  result  was  reached,  there  had  been  much  excitement  and  con- 
troversy. It  appears  from  Fairfield's  Diary,  an  extract  from  which 
has  been  given,  that  as  early  as  in  January,  1704-5,  there  had  been 
"much  debate  and  some  misapprehensions  about  church  discipline," 
and  this  he  considers  "the  beginning  of  the  separation  of  the  town 
and  church,  and  the  erecting  a  meeting  house  and  forming  a  con- 
gregation at  Monatoquod."  The  writer  of  the  Diary  probably  ex- 
aggerated the  influence  of  this  difference,  in  producing  a  division 
of  the  town.  The  heat  that  grew  out  of  this  difference  very  likely 
hastened  the  time  of  doing  what,  from  necessity,  must  soon  have 
been  accomplished.  The  south  part  of  the  town  had  increased, 
and  it  must  have  been  very  inconvenient  for  those  who  resided  there 
to  come  so  far  to  meeting.  At  all  events,  the  difficulties  and  dissen- 
sions were  so  great,  that  a  council  of  elders  and  messengers  was 
called,  as  the  Diary  states.  The  decision  of  this  Council  I  have 
found  in  the  archives  of  the  State,  together  with  the  several  peti- 
tions and  counter  petitions,  from  both  parties,  to  the  General  Court. 
They   are   among  the  old   documents  which  Mr.  Felt  has  disposed 

■"  Braintree  Town  Records,  Book  I. 


113 

and  arranged  so  faithfully,  and  so  conveniently  for  the  purposes  of 
reference.  The  papers  are  too  long  to  be  inserted  here,  nor  is  it 
important  to  do  so,  even  if  there  were  abundant  space.  The  con- 
troversy affected  Mr.  Fiske's  comfort,  inasmuch  as  there  was  a  le- 
gal question  involved,  namely,  whether  they  of  the  south  end  of 
the  town,  who  withdrew,  were  liable  for  their  proportion  of  Mr. 
Fiske's  salary,  which  had  been  voted  at  the  regular  town  meeting. 
Fairfield  gives  May  2,  1706,  as  the  date  of  "  a  new  house  being 
raised  in  Braintree  for  a  meeting-house."  This  was  more  than  two 
years  before  they  were  allowed,  by  the  civil  authority,  to  be  a  dis- 
tinct precinct,  and  this  circumstance  would  lead  one  to  presume, 
that  there  was  haste  and  irregularity  in  the  matter,  which  they  fully 
acknowledged  afterward  in  an  address  to  the  General  Court,  a  copy 
of  which  is  before  me. 

In  one  of  their  petitions  they  state  the  reasons  which  moved  them 
to  take  the  step  they  did.  They  say  :  "  The  old  meeting-house  in 
the  said  town  being  built  many  years  ago,  when  the  town  was  small, 
was  accommodated,  for  both  situation  and  measure,  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  town  in  that  day,  and  is  altogether  inconvenient 
for  the  town,  that  is,  the  whole  town,  in  its  present  circumstances, 
and  as  it  is  now  situated,  in  two  distinct  parts,  considerably  distant 
one  from  the  other,  and  not  large  enough  to  contain,  with  comfort, 
above  two  thirds  of  the  inhabitants.  The  aforesaid  inhabitants  of 
the  south  end  of  the  town,  finding  it  very  irksome,  especially  in 
the  winter,  to  come  so  far  as  most  of  them  come  to  meeting,  and 
through  such  bad  ways;  whereby  the  Lord's  day,  which  is  a  day  of 
rest,  was  to  them  a  day  of  labor  rather  ;  and  knowing  that  the  in- 
habitants of  their  part  of  the  town,  for  numbers,  did  almost  if  not 
altogether  equalize  the  other  part,  who  did  of  themselves,  when 
there  were  few  if  any  inhabitants  in  the  south  part,  maintain  two 
worthy  ministers  at  once  to  their  satisfaction,  have  made  their  ap- 
plication to  the  town,  at  sundry  times,  for  near  a  dozen  years,  at 
their  general  town  meeting,  that  they  would  consent  to  have  a 
larger  meeting-house  built  for  the  whole,  which  might  contain  all 
the  inhabitants,  and  might  be  something  nearer  to  them,  the  other 
being  now  at  one  end  of  the  town.  But  the  other  end  of  the  town 
have  wholly  refused  to  gratify  them  in  this  their  reasonable  desire, 
and  this  notwithstanding  there  was  a  clear  vote  that  there  should  be 
a  new  house  built,  so  long  ago  as  the  year  1695,  which  now  stands 

15 


114 

upon  record."     The  paper  from  which  the  extract   above  given  has 
been  made  bears  date,  Nov.  25,  1706. 

Having  proceeded  so  far  as  to  build  a  house  for  public  worship, 
the  next  step  taken  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  south  part  of  the  town 
was  to  gather  a  church,  in  a  regular  way,  and  to  ordain  a  minister, 
which  was  done,  Sept.  10,  1707.  Mr.  Hugh  Adams  was  their  first 
pastor.  Having  accomplished  this  much,  they  next  petition  the 
General  Court,  to  determine  the  limits  of  the  two  precincts.  They 
ask  that  their  precint  may  be  settled  according  to  the  "line  of  di- 
vision already  laid  out  and  run  between  the  two  military  companies 
in  Braintree,  there  being  in  the  north  part  of  the  town  Col.  Ed- 
mund Quincy's  company,  containing  seventy-two  families,  and  in 
the  south  part  of  the  town  Capt.  John  Mills's  company,  consisting 
of  seventy-one  families."  It  may  excite  a  smile  to  be  informed  that 
this  petition  is  dated  :  "  From  (Naphtali,  if  your  Honors  please  so  to 
name  our  neighborhood,  from  Gen.  xxx.  8.,  Matt.  iv.  15,  16,  or) 
South  Braintree,  Oct.  28,  1707."  However  appropriate  this  name 
might  have  been  at  first ;  we  cannot  but  rejoice  that  it  does  not  re- 
main, to  remind  posterity  of  the  "  great  wrestlings "  between  the 
sister  churches.  The  excitement  that  had  grown  out  of  this  divis- 
ion of  the  town  gradually  subsided  ;  a  reconciliation  was  effected 
soon  after  the  settlement  of  Mr.  Marsh  in  the  North  Precinct ;  and 
the  harmony  of  the  two  parts  of  the  town  was  completed,  by  Mr. 
Adams's  officiating  in  the  north  meeting-house,  which  he  did,  ac- 
cording to  Fairfield's  Diary,  March  19,  1709-  10. 


N.     Page  46. 

Mr.  Joseph  Marsh,  the  fourth  minister  of  Braintree  Church, 
was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1705.  I  have  not  been  able 
to  ascertain  where  he  originated.  The  earliest  notice  I  have  dis- 
covered of  him  is  the  date  of  his  admission  to  the  Cambridge 
church.  He  was  admitted,  according  to  the  records  of  that  church, 
Nov.  28,  1703,  and  is  mentioned  as  "  Joseph  Marsh,  student."  In 
one   of  the   volumes  of  old  papers   and   documents   at  the  State 


115 

House  in  Boston,  is  an  order  passed  by  the  General  Court,  26  May, 
1708,  upon  complaint  being  made  that  the  town  of  Tivertown  (then 
belonging  to  Massachusetts)  did  not  comply  with  the  law  and  provide 
themselves  with  a  minister.  This  order  directs  "  that  Mr.  Joseph 
Marsh,  minister,  be  treated  with  and  obtained,  if  it  may  be,  and 
sent  to  the  said  town."  There  is  also  in  the  same  volume,  a  peti- 
tion from  Mr.  Marsh,  dated  Feb.  7,  1709,  which  states  that  he  had 
preached  in  Tivertown  ten  Sabbaths,  and  having  received  a  call  to 
settle  in  Braintree,  had  obtained  a  substitute  in  the  former  place. 
Mr.  Marsh  was  the  first  minister  after  the  town  was  divided  into 
two  precincts.  And  the  North  Precinct  Records  contain  the  fol- 
lowing vote. 

"  Feb.  14,  1708  -  9.  Then  voted  by  the  freeholders  and  other  in- 
habitants of  the  North  End  Precinct,  regularly  assembled,  to  raise 
the  sum  of  £  70  per  annum,  to  be  given  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Joseph 
Marsh,  upon  his  settlement  with  us  in  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
during  the  time  of  his  performance  of  that  service,  beginning  the 
1st  day  of  March  next. 

"  Then  also  it  was  voted  to  give  to  the  said  Mr.  Joseph  Marsh 
£  100  upon  his  settlement  with  us,  and  that  to  be  final  for  said  set- 
tlement." 

The  following  extract  from  the  Braintree  Town  Records  will 
show  what  was  the  condition  of  the  town  at  that  time. 

"  Aug.  31,  1708.  The  real  estate  of  this  town,  being  valued  at 
the  yearly  income,  amounted  to  the  sum  total  of  £  (391  6  s.  The 
personal;  oxen  219,  cows  738,  horses  190,  sheep  1375,  swine  78 
in  number.     The  polls  195  in  number." 

Mr.  Marsh  was  ordained,  May  18,  1709,  and  continued  minister 
of  the  church  till  his  death,  which  occurred,  March  8,  1725-6,  in 
the  41st  year  of  his  age,  and  the  17th  of  his  ministry  in  Braintree. 
He  lies  buried,  says  Mr.  Hancock,  in  the  same  tomb  with  Mr. 
Fiske.  "  The  number  of  members  added  to  the  church  under  his 
ministry,  including  himself,  is  102.  Baptisms,  288.  In  the  vacan- 
cy between  his  death  and  the  settlement  of  his  successor,  there 
were  8  baptisms." 

Mr.  Marsh  married  Anne  Fiske,  daughter  of  his  predecessor,  as 
has  already  been  stated  in  another  note,  30  June,  1709.  His  chil- 
dren by  her  were  Joseph,  born  7  Dec.  1710;  Hannah,  born  10 
Feb.  1715-16;  Anne,   born   15  April,  1722;  Anne,  born  23  Oct. 


116 

1724.*  Besides  these  the  Church  Records  contain,  in  his  hand- 
writing, the  baptism  of  his  daughter  Mary,  Feb.  2,  1718.  Joseph 
kept  for  many  years  a  private  classical  school  in  this  town.  Of 
Hannah  nothing  has  been  discovered.  The  first  Anne  probably 
died  in  infancy.  Anne  Marsh  the  second  was  married  to  Col.  Jo- 
siah  Q,uincy,  by  Mr.  Wibird,  July  11,  1762.  Mary  Marsh  was 
married  to  Rev.  Jedediah  Adams  of  Stoughton,  by  Mr.  Briant, 
May  19,  1746.  The  widow  of  Mr.  Marsh  survived  him  many 
years.  In  the  will  of  his  successor,  Mr.  Hancock,  is  a  small  legacy 
of  ^5  to  "  Mrs.  Ann  Marsh,  relict  of  my  Rev.  Predecessor."  I 
have  met  with  no  publication  by  Mr.  Marsh.  Under  date  of  April 
30,  1710,  is  the  following  entry  in  Fairfield's  Diary.  "  The  Sab- 
bath. A  gathering  to  print  two  sermons."  From  this  one  would 
be  led  to  infer  that  two  of  Mr.  Marsh's  sermons  were  printed  at  that 
time. 


O.     Page  47. 

Mr.  John  Hancock,  the  fifth  minister  of  the  church,  was  son  of 
the  Rev.  John  Hancock,  for  a  long  time  minister  of  that  part  of  the 
town  of  Cambridge  now  called  Lexington.  His  father  seems  to 
have  been  highly  respected,  and  so  great  was  his  influence,  that  he 
went  in  the  neighboring  churches  by  the  name  of  Bishop  Hancock. 
In  the  Records  of  Cambridge  First  Church,  it  is  entered  :  that  John 
Hancock,  Student,  was  admitted  to  full  communion,  Dec.  21,  1718. 
The  subject  of  this  note  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1719. 
The  following  is  taken  from  the  Braintree  North  Precinct  Records. 

"  June  29,  1726.  At  a  meeting  this  day,  an  unanimous  call  was 
given  to  Mr.  Hancock  to  settle  in  the  work  of  the  ministry.  A 
yearly  salary  was  at  the  same  time  voted  of  =£110,  in  good  and  law- 
ful bills  of  public  credit  on  this  Province,  for  his  support.  And  a 
settlement  of  =£200,  in  good  and  lawful  bills  of  public  credit,  was 
also  voted."  Mr.  Hancock's  answer  to  the  invitation  to  settle  in 
Braintree  is  contained   in  the   Precinct   Records,  dated  from  Cam- 

*  Braintree  Register. 


117 

bridge.  The  account  of  his  ordination  that  follows  is  extracted 
from  the  first  book  of  our  Church  Records,  and  the  original  is  in 
his  own  hand-writing. 

"  On  Wednesday,  Nov.  2,  1726.  Mr.  John  Hancock  was  ordain- 
ed the  Pastor  of  the  church  of  Christ  in  the  North  Precinct  of 
Braintree,  by  the  solemn  imposition  of  the  hands  of  the  presbytery. 
The  churches  sent  unto  and  desired  to  be  present  at  the  solemnity 
were  the  churches  of  Cambridge,  Lexington,  Dorchester  1st  Church, 
Milton,  Braintree  South  Church,  Weymouth  1st  Church,  and  Hing- 
ham  1st  Church.  The  Rev.  Mr.  John  Danforth  made  the  first 
prayer.  My  honored  father,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hancock  of  Lexington, 
preached  the  sermon  from  24  Luke,  49.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Thacher 
gave  the  charge;  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Danforth  the  right  hand  of  fel- 
lowship. The  Rev.  Mr.  Niles,  and  Mr.  Appleton,  laying  on  hands. 
His  letter  of  dismission  from  the  church  of  Cambridge  was  read  at 
the  same  time  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hancock.  The  auditory  was  very 
numerous." 

Mr.  Hancock  continued  in  the  ministry  in  this  place  until  his 
death,  which  occurred,  May  7,  1744,  in  the  forty-second  year  of 
his  age.  He  lies  in  the  same  tomb  with  Mr.  Fiske  and  Mr.  Marsh ; 
but  there  is  no  inscription  to  his  memory.  This  ought  not  so  to  be. 
Mr.  Hancock  married  the  widow  of  Mr.  Samuel  Thaxter  of  Hing- 
ham.  Her  maiden  name  was  Mary  Hawke.  By  her  he  had  three 
children,  whose  baptisms  are  thus  recorded  by  his  own  hand  : 
"Mary  Hancock,  my  first-born,  April  13,  1735.  John  Hancock, 
my  son,  Jan.  16,  1736-7.  Ebenezer  Hancock,  my  son,  Nov.  22, 
1741."  Mary  was  born  8  April,  1735.  John,  12  Jan.  1736-7, 
and  Ebenezer,  Nov.  15,  1741.* 

John  Hancock,  son  of  the  minister  of  Braintree,  was  graduated 
at  Harvard  College,  in  1754.  His  fortune,  which  he  received  from 
his  uncle  Thomas  Hancock  Esq..  was  ample,  and  the  use  he  made 
of  it  liberal  and  patriotic.  His  manners  were  popular.  He  es- 
poused with  ardor  the  cause  of  his  country,  in  the  commencement 
of  the  revolutionary  conflict.  He  was  early  made  conspicuous  by 
the  denunciation  levelled  against  him  in  connexion  with  his  co- 
patriot,  Samuel  Adams.  He  was  president  of  that  Congress,  which 
made  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and   was  the  first  to  affix 

*  Braintree  Church  Records,  Book  1. 


118 

his  name  to  that  memorable  instrument.  He  was  afterwards  Gov- 
ernor of  his  native  State  for  many  years.  The  house  in  which  he 
lived  in  Boston  is  now  occupied  by  his  nephew,  and  still  stands, 
amidst  surrounding  improvements,  an  interesting  and  venerable  relic 
of  the  past. 

The  name  of  Hancock  is  not  only  illustrious  in  the  political  an- 
nals of  our  country,  but  is  honorably  associated  with  the  University. 
The  Hon.  Thomas  Hancock  of  Boston,  son  of  the  Rev.  John  Han- 
cock of  Lexington,  gave  a  legacy  of  <£1000  sterling  to  the  ''Presi- 
dent and  Fellows  of  Harvard  College,  the  whole  income  to  be  ap- 
plied to  the  support  and  maintenance  of  some  person,  who  shall  be 
elected  by  the  President  and  Fellows,  with  the  approbation  and  con- 
sent of  the  overseers,  to  profess  and  teach  the  oriental  languages, 
especially  the  Hebrew,  in  said  College."  Thus  arose  "  the  first 
Professorship  founded  in  New  England,  or  in  America,  by  one  of 
its  sons."  * 

Mr.  Hancock  of  Braintree,  in  his  will,  besides  the  legacy  to  the 
widow  of  his  predecessor,  which  has  been  noticed  in  another  place, 
left  ,£10  to  the  First  Church  in  Braintree  ;  and  to  Harvard  College, 
Sir  Wm.  Temple's  works,  2  small  folio  vols. 

The  whole  number  of  Baptisms  during  Mr.  Hancock's  ministry, 
was  355.  Up  to  1739,  according  to  his  own  account,  in  one  of  his 
Century  Sermons,  there  had  been  added  to  the  church,  including 
himself,  105. 

Several  individuals,  of  high  and  deserved  celebrity,  have  been 
nurtured  in  the  bosom  of  our  church.  John  Hancock,  as  has 
been  said,  was  baptized  here  by  his  father.  John  Adams,  the 
second  President  of  the  United  States,  was  son  of  a  Deacon  of  the 
Church,  was  baptized  by  Mr.  Hancock,  Oct.  26,  1734-5,  became, 
Jan.  3,  1773,  a  member  of  the  Church,  and  was,  to  the  close  of  his 
life,  a  devout  and  constant  worshipper,  in  the  place  where  his  fathers 
had  worshipped  before  him.  The  Quincys,  from  the  earliest  times, 
have  lent  their  influence  to  support,  and  their  virtues  to  adorn,  the 
institutions  of  religion  here,  as  well  as  the  institutions  of  govern- 
ment and  learning  on  a  wider  theatre.  Judge  Edmund  Quincy, 
who  died  abroad  in  the  service  of  his  country,  is  affectionately 
mentioned  in  a  sermon  preached  by  Mr.  Hancock,  after  the  intel- 

*  See  Peirce's  History  of  Harvard  College. 


119 

ligence  was  received  of  his  death.  John  Quincy  was  for  forty 
years  representative  of  this  town  in  the  General  Court,  and  for 
many  years  in  succession  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. His  name,  which  appears,  in  the  Town  and  Precinct  Records, 
in  connexion  with  all  public  meetings,  was  given  to  this  North  Pre- 
cinct of  Braintree,  when,  in  1792,  it  was  set  off  and  incorporated 
as  a  distinct  town.  And  that  name  is  borne  by  an  individual  now 
living,  who   has   ensured  to  it  "  a  perpetual  memory." 

During  Mr.  Hancock's  ministry  a  new  meeting-house  was  erected 
by  the  Society.  The  circumstance  is  thus  related  by  himself  in  the 
Records  of  the  Church  : 

"Braintree,  July  27,  1731. 

"  This  day  the  First  Parish  in  this  town  began  to  raise  and  re- 
build an  house  for  the  public  worship  of  God.  And  through  the 
divine  goodness,  the  house  was  finished  and  dedicated,  Oct.  8th, 
1732,  in  peaceable  times.  The  text  preached  upon  at  the  dedica- 
tion, was,  Is.  lx.  13.  The  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  then 
administered.  Upon  this  Sabbath  also  we  began  to  read  the  Holy 
Scriptures  in  public.  The  portion  then  read  was  1  Kings  8  ch. 
The  Sabbath  following  we  began  the  book  of  Job  and  the  Gospel 
of  St.  Matthew. 

"  Deo  Optimo,  maximo,  laus  et  gloria.  Madam  Norton  then 
presented  to  the  Church  a  very  handsome  velvet  cushion  for  the 
pulpit." 

The  completion  of  the  first  century  from  the  gathering  of  the 
Church  occurred  also  during  Mr.  Hancock's  ministry,  and  furnished 
an  interesting  occasion  which  he  noticed  appropriately.  In  the 
Church  Records  is  the  following  in  his  hand-writing. 

"  The  first  Church  of  Christ  in  Braintree  was  embodied,  Sept. 
17th,  1639.  * 

"  N.  B.  On  Sept.  16,  1739,  being  Lord's  day,  the  first  Church 
in  Braintree,  both  males  and  females,  solemnly  renewed  the  cove- 
nant of  their  fathers,  immediately  before  the  participation  of  the 
Lord's  Supper.  The  text  preached  upon  at  the  solemnity  was  lxiii. 
Is.  7." 

The  two  Discourses,  delivered  on  that  interesting  occasion,  were, 

*  This  date  is  altered  in  the  Records,  perhaps  by  Mr.  Hancock  himself,  to 
16th.  The  testimony  of  Winthrop,  however,  who  was  living  and  probably 
present  at  the  transaction,  fixes  the  date  to  the  17th  beyond  question. 


120 

by  request  of  his  parishoners,  published  the  same  year,  with  notes 
which  furnish  valuable  information  respecting  the  history  of  the 
church  to  which  he  ministered  so  faithfully.  A  second  edition  of 
these  Discourses,  with  short  additional  notes,  was  published  at 
the  suggestion  of  the  elder  President  Adams,  in  1811.  Besides 
these  well  known  Century  Discourses,  Mr.  Hancock,  in  the  year 
1738,  on  the  23d  of  April,  preached  a  funeral  Sermon,  which  was 
subsequently  printed,  on  the  "  death  of  the  Hon.  Edmund  Quincy 
Esq.,  one  of  his  Majesty's  Council,  and  of  the  Judges  of  the  Circuit, 
and  agent  for  the  Province  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  at  the  Court 
of  Great  Britain,  who  died,  of  the  small  pox  in  London,  the  23d  of 
Feb.,  1737 -S,  in  the  57th  year  of  his  age."  The  following  sen- 
tence, taken  from  this  Sermon,  is  happily  expressed  :  "  The  late 
honorable  Edmund  Quincy  was  a  gentleman  of  bright  intellectual 
accomplishments,  vailed  from  his  youth  up  under  a  great  deal  of 
modesty,  yet  manifest  to  such  as  have  the  discerning  of  spirits." 
"  My  own  loss,"  he  says  in  another  part  of  the  Sermon,  "  in  the 
death  of  your  honored  father  is  none  of  the  least.  Very  pleasant 
hast  thou  been  unto  me.  We  took  sweet  counsel  together,  and 
walked  to  the  house  of  God  in  company.  Alas  my  father !  my 
father  !  my  father  ! 

"In  his  affectionate  and  acceptable  letter  to  me,  dated  London 
Jan.  31,  1737,  in  the  concluding  part  of  it  are  these  words,  namely, 
1  My  respects  to  my  friends  of  the  church  and  town,  in  whose  good 
wishes  I  doubt  not  but  I  have  an  interest.' 

"  And  in  token  of  his  peculiar  affection  to  this  church,  whereof 
he  was  a  leading  member  for  many  years,  he  has  ]ek  us  an  accepta- 
ble legacy  in  his  last  will  and  testament.*  He  loved  us,  and  how 
was  his  heart  engaged  in  building  us  a  synagogue  ? " 

Mr.  Hancock's  other  publications,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to 
discover,  were  : 

1.  "  A  Discourse  upon  the  good  work,  delivered  at  the  Monthly 
Tuesday  Lecture  in  Pembrook,  Sept.  7,  1742." 

2.  "  The  danger  of  an  unqualified  ministry/represented  in  a  Sermon 
preached  at  the  ordination  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  John  Bass,  to  the  Pas- 
toral care  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  Ashford,  in  the  Colony  of 
Connecticut,  Sept.  7,  1743." 

*  See  Note  P.  in  Appendix. 


121 

P.    Page  49. 

It  is  the  object  of  this  note  to  give  some  account  of  the  several 
houses  for  public  worship  that  have,  from  time  time,  been  erected 
by  the  First  Congregational  Society  in  this  place.  Mr.  Hancock, 
in  one  of  his  Century  Discourses,  makes  the  following  remark : 
"  This  is  the  third  house,  in  which  we  are  now  worshipping,  that 
we  and  our  fathers  have  built  for  the  public  worship  of  God."  As 
it  seems  to  me  altogether  improbable,  that  Mr.  Hancock  should  have 
included  any  other  house  besides  those  which  had  been  erected  for 
the  use  of  his  own  Society,  I  understand  his  remark  literally. 
There  have,  therefore,  been  four  meeting-houses  erected  for  the  use 
of  the  First  Congregational  Society.  The  old  stone  meeting-house, 
which  stood  near  the  site  now  occupied  by  the  Second  Congregational 
Church,  instead  of  being  the  first,  as  it  has  been  frequently  called, 
was,  if  I  am  right,  the  second  house.  My  reasons  for  this  supposi- 
tion, besides  the  construction  put  upon  Mr.  Hancock's  language, 
are  these.  First,  —  it  is  improbable,  and  not  according  to  the  course 
taken  in  other  towns  in  the  Colony,  that  a  structure,  capable  of  stand- 
ing nearly  a  century,  as  that  house  did,  should  have  been  erected  by 
the  first  settlers  in  this  place.  The  first  meeting-house  in  Boston  * 
was  erected  in  1632.  "  Its  roof  was  thatched,  and  its  walls  were 
of  mud."  That  frail  and  humble  structure,  corresponding  so  well 
with  the  condition  of  the  settlers  in  so  early  a  period,  did  not  stand 
long,  for  we  learn  from  Winthrop,f  that  in  1639  the  old  meeting- 
house was  sold,  "  being  decayed  and  too  small,"  and  in  1640,  that 
is,  only  eight  years  after  the  first  was  erected,  they  built  a  new 
house.  The  case  was  the  same  in  Hingham,  and  we  may  conclude 
that  all  the  little  plantations  would  be  led  from  necessity  to  adopt  a 
similar  course. 

Second.  It  is  rather  remarkable  that  no  mention  is  made,  in  the 
Braintree  Town  Records,  of  the  building  of  the  old  stone  meeting- 
house, and  I  have  been  disappointed  in  finding  no  certain  evidence 
of  the  date  of  its  erection.  But  the  vane  which  belonged  to  that 
meeting-house  has  been  preserved,  and  a  wood  cut,  representing  it 
faithfully,  is  given  in  another  part  of  this  pamphlet.  It  will  be  seen 
that  it  bears  date  1666.     This  may  have  been  merely  the  time  when 

*  Emerson's  History  of  First  Church  Boston. 
i    Winthrop's  N.  England,  Savage's  Edition. 

16 


122 

the  vane  was  put  up  ;  but  the  more  probable  inference  seems  to  be, 
that  this  was  the  year  when  the  house  itself  was  erected.     However 
we  may   decide   upon  this  point,  it  is   clear,  I  think,  that  the   old 
stone  meeting-house,  humble  as  it  was  in  its  appearance  and  accom- 
modations,  was   preceded  by    another  yet  more  humble.     Where 
that  first  house   stood    cannot    be   determined    perhaps;  probably, 
however,  on  the  same  spot  where  the  stone  meeting-house  stood. 
For  in  the  old  Braintree  Records,   in  mentioning  the  laying  out  of 
the   "Country   High-way,"  from  Weymouth  to  Dorchester,  which 
was  done  25th  12  mo.,  1640,  Braintree  meeting-house  is  spoken  of, 
and  the  road,  when  it  reached   Braintree  meeting-house,  was  laid 
out  on  both  sides  of  it,  leaving  the  meeting-house  in   the  middle  of 
the  road.     The  old  stone  meeting-house  was  without  pews,  except 
such  as  were,  in  the  course  of  time,  built,  for  their  own  convenience, 
by  individuals.  Votes,  similar  to  the  following,  occur  frequently  in  the 
Town  Records.     "  Jany.  6,  1700  -  1.    Then  voted  that  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Moses  Fiske  should  have  liberty  to  build  a  pew  by  the  S.  E.  window. 
in  the  meeting-house,  he  leaving  convenient  passage."     The   house 
was  furnished  with   seats,  and  the  men  were   separated   from   the 
women ;  and  the  business  of  "  seating  the  house,"  as  it  was  called, 
that  is,  of  assigning  to  the   worshippers  the   seats  they  were  to  oc- 
cupy, was   attended  with  great  difficulty,  and  was  the  occasion   of 
complaint  on  the  part  of  those   who   thought  too  low  a  seat   in  the 
synagogue  had  been  assigned  to  them. 

A  description  of  some  of  the  practices  of  our  fathers,  by  a 
writer  who  visited  New  England  soon  after  its  settlement,  may  be 
found  interesting,  and  may  be  pertinent  in  this  connexion.  He 
thus  speaks  of  their  mode  of  worship. 

"  The  public  worship  is  in  as  fair  a  meeting-house  as  they  can 
provide,  wherein,  in  most  places,  they  have  been  at  great  charges. 
Every  Sabbath  or  Lord's  day,  they  come  together  at  Boston  by 
ringing  of  a  bell,  about  nine  of  the  clock  or  before.  The  Pastor 
begins  with  solemn  prayer  continuing  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 
The  Teacher  then  readeth  and  expoundeth  a  chapter  ;  then  a  Psalm 
is  sung,  whichever  one  of  the  Ruling  Elders  dictates.  After  that 
the  Pastor  preacheth  a  Sermon,  and  sometimes  extempore  exhorts. 
Then  the  Teacher  concludes  with  prayer  and  a  blessing. 

"About  two  in  the  afternoon,  they  repair  to  the  meeting-house 
again  ;   and  then   the  Pastor   begins,  as  before  noon,    and   a  Psalm 


123 

being  sung,  the  teacher  makes  a  Sermon.  He  was  wont,  when  I 
came  first,  to  read  and  expound  a  chapter,  also  before  his  sermon  in 
the  afternoon.      After  and  before  his  Sermon,  he  prayeth. 

"After  that  ensues  Baptism  if  there  be  any,  which  is  done,  by 
either  Pastor  or  Teacher,  in  the  Deacon's  seat,  the  most  eminent 
place  in  the  church,  next  under  the  Elder's  seat. 

"  Which  ended,  follows  the  contribution,  one  of  the  Deacons  say- 
ing, 'Brethren  of  the  Congregation,  now  there  is  time  left  for  contri- 
bution, wherefore  as  God  hath  prospered  you,  so  freely  offer.' The 

Magistrates  and  chief  Gentlemen  first,  and  then  the  Elders,  and  all 
the  congregation  of  men,  and  most  of  them  that  are  not  of  the 
church,  all  single  persons,  widows,  and  women  in  absence  of  their 
husbands,  come  up  one  after  another  one  way,  and  bring  their  offer- 
ings to  the  Deacon  at  his  seat,  and  put  it  into  a  box  of  wood  for 
the  purpose,  if  it  be  money  or  papers ;  if  it  be  any  other  chattel, 
they  set  it  or  lay  it  down  before  the  Deacons,  and  so  pass  another 
way  to  their  seats  again.  This  contribution  is  of  money,  or  papers, 
promising  so  much  money.  I  have  seen  a  fair  gilt  cup  with  a 
cover,  offered  there  by  one,  which  is  still  used  at  the  communion. 
Which  moneys  and  goods  the  Deacons  dispose  towards  the  main- 
tenance of  the  ministers,  and  the  poor  of  the  Church,  and  the 
Church's  occasions,  without  making  account  ordinarily.  * 

"  Marriages  are  solemnized  and  done  by  the  Magistrates,  and  not 
by  the  Ministers.  At  burials,  nothing  is  read,  nor  any  funeral 
Sermon  made,  but  all  the  neighborhood,  or  a  good  company  of  them, 
come  together  by  tolling  of  the  bell,  and  carry  the  dead  solemnly 
to  his  grave,  and  there  stand  by  him  while  he  is  buried.  The 
ministers  are  most  commonly  present."  f 

When  to  the  account,  given  above,  we  add  that  a  drum  was,  in 
the  earliest  times,  used  as  a  substitute  for  a  bell,  to  call  the  people 
together,  and  an  hour  glass  stood  before  the  preacher,  instead  of  a 
clock,  to  warn  him  when  to  leave  off  "  handling  his  subject,"  we 
may  form  some  idea  of  the  customs  that  prevailed  in  the  days  of 
our  fathers.  The  two  following  votes  also,  selected  from  the  Brain- 
tree  North  Precinct  Records,  prove  that  we  have  escaped  some 
annoyances  to  which  our  pious  fathers  were  exposed.  "  March  17, 
1728-9.  The  Precinct  then  having  debated  upon  the  disturbance 
made  by  dogs  in  the  meeting-house  on  Sabbath  days,  to  prevent  the 

*  Lechford's  Plain  Dealing,  pp.  76,  77,  78.  t  Ibid.  p.  94, 


124 

same,  They  then  voted,  that  Joseph  Parmenter  should  have  twenty 
shillings,  provided  he  would  take  care  and  pains  in  that  matter,  by 
beating  and  keeping  of  them  out. 

"  March  30,  1730.  It  was  voted  that  Joseph  Parmenter  should 
have  twenty  shillings  for  his  service  as  Precinct  clerk,  and  clearing 
the  meeting-house  of  snow,  the  year  past,  there  having  been  cart 
loads  of  snow  blown  in." 

As  early  as  1695,  in  November,  a  vote  was  passed  at  a  regular 
town  meeting,  that  a  new  meeting-house  should  be  built.  The  house 
contemplated  by  this  vote  would  have  been  for  the  whole  town. 
This  is  the  vote  to  which  the  inhabitants  of  the  south  part  of  the 
town  refer,  in  their  memorial  to  the  General  Court,  setting  forth 
their  reasons  for  withdrawing  themselves  from  the  north  part  of  the 
town,  and  building  a  house  for  their  own  separate  accommodation. 
The  vote  passed  in  1695  was  not  carried  into  effect,  but  the  old 
house  was  repaired,  and  was  occupied  for  worship,  until  a  new  one 
was  at  length  built,  in  Mr.  Hancock's  day,  for  the  accommodation 
of  what  had  become  the  North  Precinct  of  Braintree.  The  ex- 
tracts that  follow,  from  the  Precinct  Records,  show  that  there  were 
several  places  thought  of  where  the  house  should  be  built. 

"  Dec.  22,  1729.  After  some  considerable  debate  upon  the  ques- 
tion, whether  the  Precinct  did  judge  it  needful  to  have  a  new  meet- 
ing house,  they  then  voted  in  the  affirmative. 

"Jan.  5,  1729-30.  Then,  after  a  considerable  debate  of  the 
Precinct  about  a  place  where  to  set  the  said  meeting-house,  a  vote 
was  asked  whether  it  should  be  set  at  Col.  Quincy's  gate;  it  passed 
in  the  negative. 

"  Then  whether  where  the  old  meeting-house  stands  or  near 
unto  it ;  it  passed  in  the  negative. 

"  After  more  debate  upon  a  place  where  the  said  meeting-house 
should  be  set,  the  moderator  was  desired  to  ask  a  vote,  whether  the 
Precinct  would  set  it  at  the  ten  miles  stone,  or  near  unto  it ;  it 
passed  in  the  affirmative. 

"  Jany.  13,  1730-31.  The  question  where  the  meeting-house 
should  be  placed  was  again  discussed  at  the  meeting.  The  question 
was  put  whether  the  said  house  should  be  erected  on  the  training 
field,  within  the  said  Precinct,  as  near  to  the  west  corner  of  the 
land  of  Ensign  Saml.  Baxter,  as  the  land  would  admit  of;  it  passed 
in  the  affirmative." 


125 

The  old  stone  meeting-house  was  allowed  to  stand,  until,  Feb. 
IS,  1747-8,  a  vote  passed  to  sell  it  to  the  highest  bidder.  It  was 
sold  to  Serg.  Moses  Belcher  and  Mr.  Joseph  Nightingale  for  ,£100 
old  tenor.  The  wooden  meeting-house  which  was  dedicated  in 
17J52,  and  which  stood  during  the  larger  portion  of  Mr.  Hancock's 
ministry,  the  whole  of  Mr.  Briant's,  the  whole  of  Mr.  Wibird's, 
and  the  larger  portion  of  Mr.  Whitney's,  was  repaired  at  different 
times,  particularly  in  1806,  when  it  was  considerably  enlarged,  to 
meet  the  wants  of  the  Parish. 

On  the  11th  day  of  April,  1826,  a  committee  was  appointed  by 
the  Parish,  to  whom  was  referred  the  subject  of  erecting  a  new  meet- 
ing-house of  stone.  This  committee  reported,  6th  of  Nov.  1826, 
infavor  of  such  a  house,  and  their  Report  was,  at  the  same  time, 
almost  unanimously  accepted.  A  building  committee  was  chosen, 
and  on  the  9th  of  the  ensuing  April,  1827,  ground  was  broken  for 
the  cellar  of  the  new  Church.  On  the  11th  of  June,  1827,  the 
corner  stone  was  laid  with  appropriate  solemnities.  A  prayer  was 
offered,  and  an  address  was  made  by  the  Pastor,  Rev.  Mr.  Whitney.* 
Hon.  Thomas  Greenleaf,  Chairman  of  the  Building  Committee, 
made  some  interesting  remarks,  and  read  the  inscription  on  the 
plate,  which  was  deposited  in  a  lead  box,  together  with  the  several 
deeds  of  land  presented  to  the  town  by  the  late  President  Adams. 
The  inscription  is  as  follows  : 

"  A  temple  for  the  public  worship  of  God  ;  and  for  public  in- 
struction in  the  doctrines  and  duties  of  the  Christian  religion. 
Erected  by  the  Congregational  Society  in  the  Town  of  Quincy  ; 
the  stone  taken  from  the  granite  quarries,  given  to  the  town  by  the 
Hon.  John  Adams,  late  President  of  the  United  States. 

This  stone  was  laid  June  11th,  1827,  in  the  fifty-first  year  of 
American  Independence. 
The  Rev.  Peter  Whitney,  Pastor  of  the  Society. 
John  duincy  Adams,  President  of  the  United  States. 
Levi  Lincoln,  Governor  and  Commander  in  Chief  of  the  Com- 
monwealth of  Massachusetts. 
John  Whitney,  Danl.  Spear,  John  Souther, 
Selectmen  of  the  Town  of  Quincy. 
Building  Committee.  —  Thos.  Greenleaf,  Chairman,  Noah  Curtis, 
John  Souther,  Lemuel  Brackett,  Daniel  Spear. 

*  See  Whitney's  History  of  Quiney, 


126 

Alexander  Parris,  Architect. 
William  Wood,  Master  Builder. 

MEMORANDA. 

The  population  of  the  town  estimated  at  2000.     That  of  the  United 

States  at  13,000,000. 

Engraved  by  Hazen  Morse." 

Worship  was  held  in  the  old  house,  for  the  last  time,  on  Sunday  12th 
October,  1828.  In  the  afternoon  a  farewell  sermon,  from  the  words. 
'  Your  fathers,  where  are  they  ;  andthe  Prophets,  do  they  live  for- 
ever?' was  preached,  and  the  occasion  is  described  as  very  interesting 
and  affecting.*  The  following  notice  of  the  Dedication  of  the  new 
Church  is  taken  from  the  Church  Records.  "  The  stone  Congrega- 
tional Church  in  Quincy  was  dedicated  to  the  worship  and  service 
of  the  one  only  living  and  true  God,  on  Wednesday,  the  12th  of 
Nov.  1828.  Rev.  Dr.  Gray  offered  the  Introductory  Prayer.  Rev. 
Mr.  Brooks  read  selections  from  Scripture.  Rev.  Dr.  Lowell 
offered  the  Dedicatory  Prayer.  The  Pastor  of  the  Church,  Rev. 
Mr.  Whitney,  preached  from  Gen.  Ch.  28.  17v.  Rev.  Dr.  Porter 
offered  the  concluding  prayer." 

The  following  beautiful  Hymn,  from  the  pen  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Pierpont,  was  sung  on  the  occasion,  and  will  be  thought  worth  pre- 
serving. 

"  When  thy  Son,  O  God,  was  sleeping 
In  death's  rocky  prison  bound, 
When  his  faithful  ones  were  weeping, 
And  the  guards  were  watching  round ; 
Then  thy  word  that  strong  house  shaking, 
Rent  the  rocky  bars  away, 
And  the  holy  sleeper  waking 
Rose  to  meet  the  rising  day. 

Where  thy  word,  by  Jesus  spoken, 
In  its  power  is  heard  e  'en  now, 
Shake  the  hills,  the  rocks  are  broken, 
As  on  Calvary's  trembling  brow  ; 
From  the  bosom  of  the  mountain, 
At  that  word,  these  stones  have  burst, 
And  have  gathered  round  the  fountain, 
Where  our  souls  may  quench  their  thirst. 

*  Journal  of  F.  A.  Whitney. 


127 

Here  the  water  of  salvation 
Long  hath  gushed  a  liberal  wave  ; 
Here,  a  Father  of  our  nation 
Drank,  and  felt  the  strength  it  gave. 
Here  he  sleeps,  —  his  bed  how  lowly  ! 
But  his  aim  and  trust  were  high  ; 
And  his  memory,  that  is  holy, 
And  his  name,  it  cannot  die. 

While  beneath  this  Temple's  Portal 
Rest  the  relics  of  the  just, 
While  the  light  of  hope  immortal 
Shines  above  his  sacred  dust, 
While  the  well  of  life  its  waters 
To  the  weary  here  shall  give, 
Father,  may  thy  sons  and  daughters, 
Kneeling  round  it,  drink  and  live." 

The  church  is  built  of  granite,  with  a  pediment  in  front,  supported 
by  four  Doric  pillars,  the  shaft  of  each  being  a  single  block.  It 
contains  134  pews  on  the  lower  floor,  and  22-  in  the  galleries.  Ac- 
cording to  the  very  full  and  clear  report  of  the  Building  Committee, 
contained  in  the  Parish  Records,  the  work  included  in  the  original 
estimate,  made  by  the  architect,  was  performed  at  a  cost  $3000 
within  that  estimate.  The  total  cost  of  the  building,  with  the  im- 
provements around  it,  was  $30,488,56,  to  which  must  be  added  the 
sum  of  $4350  voted  to  be  paid  to  the  proprietors  of  pews  in  the 
old  meeting-house,  and  the  cost  of  the  furnace.  The  debt  incurred 
by  the  erection  of  so  costly  an  edifice  was,  finally,  in  the  year 
1833,  wiped  off. 

Under  the  portico  of  this  church  lie,  in  a  granite  tomb,  the  re- 
mains of  President  John  Adams  and  Abigail  his  wife.  And  in  this 
connexion  I  cannot  forbear  giving  the  following  letter,  a  copy  of 
which  is  inserted  in  the  Parish  Records. 

"  Quincy,  8  Sept.  1826. 

"  To  Thos.  Greenleaf,  Josiah  Quincy,  Thos.  B.  Adams,  Edward 
Miller,  and  Geo.  W.  Beale,  Supervisors  of  the  Temple  and  School 
Fund,  given  by  John  Adams,  late  deceased,  to  the  Town  of  Quincy. 

"Gentlemen  :  —  Upon  the  decease  of  my  late  honored  father,  I 
have  considered  it  a  duty  devolving  upon  me,  to  erect  a  plain  and 
modest  monument  to  his  memory  ;  and  my  wish  is  that,  divested  of 


128 


all  ostentation,  it  may  yet  be  as  durable  as  the  walls  of  the  Temple, 
to  the  erection  of  which  he  has  contributed,  and  as  the  rocks  of 
his  native  town,  which  are  to  supply  the  materials  for  it. 

"  This  purpose  may  be  most  advantageously  effected,  if  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  town,  in  their  corporate  capacity,  should  accede  to  the 
proposition  which  I  now  make  to  them  through  you,  and  upon 
which  I  request  you  to  take  their  sense  as  speedily  as  may  be  con- 
venient. 

" 1  propose  that  when  the  Congregational  Society  in  this  town 
shall  determine  to  commence  the  erection  of  the  Temple,  they 
should  adopt  a  resolution  authorizing  you  to  conclude  with  me  an 
agreement,  whereby  at  my  expense,  a  vault  or  tomb  may  be  con- 
structed, under  the  Temple,  wherein  may  be  deposited  the  mortal 
remains  of  the  late  John  Adams  and  of  Abigail,  his  beloved  and 
only  wife.  And  that  within  the  walls  of  the  Temple,  at  a  suitable 
place  to  be  approved  by  me,  a  tablet  or  tablets,  of  marble  or  other 
stone,  may  be  adapted  to  the  side  of  the  walls,  with  a  view  to  dura- 
bility, and  with  such  obituary  inscription  or  inscriptions  as  I  shall 
deem  proper. 

"  The  assent  of  the  town  to  this  modification  in  the  construction 
of  the  Temple,  I  suppose  to  be  necessary,  or  at  least  expedient. 
But  the  time  when  the  Temple  itself  shall  be  built  must,  I  conceive, 
depend  upon  the  Congregational  Society  and  Church  under  the  Pas- 
toral care  of  the  Rev.  Peter  Whitney. 

"  In  proceeding  to  carry  into  effect  the  objects  of  the  Donations 
to  the  town,  I  believe  great  attention  will  be  due  to  keeping  these 
distinctions  in  mind.  The  town  and  the  parish  (by  which  I  mean 
the  Congregational  Society  and  Church)  are  distinct  corporations, 
and  consist  of  persons  partly  the  same,  and  partly  different.  The 
Temple,  when  erected,  will,  doubtless,  be  the  property  of  the  parish, 
subject  to  that  of  the  individual  pew  holders;  but  the  Donations 
being  to  the  town,  their  assent  seems  to  be  necessary  even  to  fix  the 
time  for  the  erection  of  the  edifice. 

"I  have  many  reasons  for  desiring  that  this  may  be  undertaken 
without  delay  ;  and  among  the  rest,  that  both  my  parents  may  not 
remain,  for  an  indefinite  time,  without  a  stone  to  tell  where  they  lie. 
Should  the  town  and  the  parish  both  assent  to  my  present  proposal, 
I  shall  be  anxious  to  know  when  the  latter  would  propose  to  com- 
mence the  building.     Should   they  approve  my  design,  I  shall  take 


129 


no  measures  for  erecting  a  monument  elsewhere ;  which  I  propose 
to  do,  should  they  see  any  inconvenience  in  the  acceptance  of  my 
offer.  It  will  be  necessary  that  the  agreement  should  be  in  writing; 
perhaps  by  indenture,  to  fix  the  property  of  the  vault  or  tomb,  and 
of  the  tablets. 

"  I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  friend, 

"  (Signed)  John  Quincy  Adams." 
According  to  Mr.  Adams's  request,  expressed  in  the  above  letter, 
an  indenture  was  made,  a  copy  of  which  is  contained  in  the  Parish 
Records,  by  which  was  conveyed  to  John  Quincy  Adams  a  "  portion 
of  the  soil  in  the  cellar,  situated  under  the  porch  at  the  entrance 
of  the  said  Temple,  and  partitioned  off  by  walls,  being  the  central 
division  of  the  said  cellar  under  the  porch,  and  containing  fourteen 
feet  in  length  and  fourteen  in  breadth."  By  the  same  indenture 
liberty  was  also  granted  to  affix  to  any  part  of  the  walls  of  the  Tem- 
ple tablets  with  obituary  inscriptions.  Accordingly,  on  the  east 
end  of  the  edifice,  at  the  side  of  the  pulpit,  a  mural  monument  was 
erected,  surmounted  by  a  bust  of  John  Adams  from  the  chisel  of 
Greenough.  On  the  tablets  beneath  the  bust  are  the  following  in- 
scriptions. 

Libertatem,  Amicitiam,  Fidem  Retincbis. 


D.  O.  M. 


Beneath  these  walls 

Are  deposited  the  mortal  remains  of 

JOHN  ADAMS, 

Son  of  John  and  Susanna  (Boylston)  Adams  ; 

Second  President  of  the  United  States  ; 

19 
Born—  October,  1735; 

so 

On  the  Fourth  of  July,  1776, 

He  pledged  his  Life,  Fortune,  and  Sacred  Honor 

To  the  Independence  of  his  Country  ; 

On  the  third  of  September,  1783, 

He  affixed  his  seal  to  the  definitive  Treaty  with 

Great  Britain, 

Which  acknowledged  that  Independence, 

And  consummated  the  redemption  of  his  pledge; 

On  the  Fourth  of  July,  1826, 

He  was  summoned 

To  the  Independence  of  Immortality, 

And  to  the  Judgment  of  his  God. 

This  house  will  bear  witness  to  his  piety  ; 

This  Town,  his  birth-place,  to  his  munificence; 

History  to  his  Patriotism  ; 
Posterity  to  the  depth  and  compass  of  his  mind. 


At  his  side 

till  the  Trump  shall  sound 

ABIGAIL, 

His  beloved  and  only  wife, 

Daughter  of  Win.  and  Elizabeth  (0„uincy)  Smith; 

In  every  relation  of  life  a  pattern, 
Of  Filial,  Conjugal,  Maternal,  and  Social  virtue; 
11 
Born  Nov.  -,  1744, 

Deceased  28  Oct.  1818, 
ML  74. 


Married  25  Oct.  1764. 
During  an  union  of  more  than  half  a  century 
They  survived,  in  harmony  of  sentiment,   prin- 
ciple, and  affection, 
The  tempests  of  civil  commotion  ; 
Meeting  undaunted,  and  surmounting 
The  terrors  and  trials  of  that  Revolution 
Which  secured  the  Freedom   of  their  Country  ; 
Improved  the  condition  of  their  times  ; 
And  brightened  the  prospects  of  Futurity 
To  the  race  of  man  upon  Earth. 


17 


130 


PILGRIM. 


From  lives  thus  spent  thy  earthly  duties  learn, 
From  Fancy's  dreams  to  active  Virtue  turn  ; 
Let  Freedom,  Friendship,  Faith,  thy  soul  engage, 
And  serve  like  them  thy  Country  and  thy  age. 


At  a  Parish  Meeting  held  Feb.  16,  1837,  permission  was  granted, 
by  an  unanimous  vote,  to  individuals,  to  place  an  organ  in  the  meet- 
ing-house, for  the  use  of  the  Society. 

The  Organ,  which  was  procured,  had  previously  belonged  to  Trin- 
ity Church  in  Boston,  and  was  disposed  of  when  the  worshippers  in 
that  Church  furnished  themselves  with  a  more  powerful  instrument. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  sacred  vessels  belonging  to  the 
Church,  with  the  inscriptions  they  bear,  namely  : 

A  small  cup,  having  two  handles,  and  marked  on  the  bottom 
"  Joanna  Yorke  1685  B.  C." 

A  small  cup,  of  the  same  form  as  the  preceding,  bearing  a  coat 
of  arms  on  the  surface,  and  marked  on  the  bottom,  "  B.  C.  1699." 

A  small  cup,  of  the  same  form  as  the  preceding,  plain  on  the 
surface,  with  the  following  inscription  :  "  The  gift  of  Deacon 
Samuel  Bass,  Wm.  Veazey,  Jno.  Ruggle,  David  Walesby,  1694." 

A  high  cup  marked  below  the  rim  :  "  The  gift  of  William  Need- 
ham  to  Brantry  Church  1688." 

A  high  cup  without  mark  or  date,  but  apparently  very  old. 

A  high  cup  marked :  "  The  gift  of  Mrs.  Mehetable  Fisher  to 
the  First  Church  of  Christ  in  Braintree  1741." 

A  cup  marked  :  "  The  gift  of  the  Honble-  Edmund  Quincy  Esq. 
to  the  First  Church  in  Braintree,  Feby.  23d,  1737-8." 

A  tankard  marked :  "  The  gift  of  the  Honbl.  John  Quincy  Esq. 
to  the  First  Church  of  Christ  in  Braintree,  1767." 

A  tankard  marked  :  "  The  Gift  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Adams  (Relict  of 
Mr.  Edward  Adams  late  of  Milton)  to  the  First  Church  in  Brain- 
tree." There  is  no  date  added,  but  the  Church  Records  fix  the 
time  Nov.  4,  1770. 

"  Four  large-sized  Flagons,  marked  as  follows:  "Presented  by 
Daniel  Greenleaf  to  the  Congregational  Church  in  Quincy  182S." 

Three  Plates  marked  thus:  "Presented  to  the  First  Congrega- 
tional Church  in  Quincy,  by  Deacon  Josiah  Adams,  Deacon  Daniel 
Spear,  and  Deacon  Samuel  Savil,  1828." 


131 

A  Baptismal  Vase  having  this  inscription  :  "  Presented  to  the  Con- 
gregational Church  in  the  town  of  Quincy,  by  Mrs.  Eliza  Susan 
Quincy,  1828." 

The  two  volumes  of  Scriptures,  used  in  the  pulpit,  contain  the 
following : 

"  To  the  Church  and  Congregational  Society  of  the  Town  of 
Quincy,  this  Bible,  for  the  use  of  the  Sacred  Desk,  is  respectfully 
presented  by  Josiah  Quincy. 

"  Boston,  Oct.  1808." 

"  New  bound  and  divided  into  two  volumes,  Oct.  1828." 


Q.     Pacre  50. 


Lemuel  Briant,  the  sixth  minister  of  the  Braintree  First  Church, 
was  born  about  the  year  1722.  He  was  a  native  of  Scituate,  Mass., 
where  his  ancestors  had  resided  from  a  very  early  period.  His 
father,  Thomas  Briant,  Esq.,  says  Mr.  Dean,  "  was  an  able  and 
useful  man  as  a  magistrate  ;  but  tradition  speaks  of  some  singulari- 
ties. He  was  the  father  of  Lemuel  Briant,  a  man  of  extraordinary 
powers  and  singularities,  who  died  1754,  and  was  buried  at  Scitu- 
ate." He  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1739.  Where  he 
pursued  his  theological  studies  I  have  not  learned ;  perhaps  in  his 
native  town,  for  he  was  admitted  to  full  communion  with  the  church 
in  Scituate,  July  5,  1741.  Before  coming  to  Braintree  it  appears 
that  he  preached  some  time  in  Worcester. 

At  a  precinct  meeting  held  in  the  North  Precinct  of  Braintree, 
Sept.  16,  1745,  Mr.  Briant  was  elected,  by  an  unanimous  vote,  min- 
ister of  the  church.  And  on  the  23d  day  of  September,  same  year, 
"the  Precinct  voted  that  there  shall  be  allowed  and  paid  unto  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Lemuel  Briant  (if  he  settles  with  them  in  the  work  of  the 
ministry)  one  hundred  pounds  in  bills  of  credit  on  this  province  of 
the  last  emission  ;  fifty  pounds  to  be  paid  at  the  end  of  the  first 
year  after  his  ordination  ;  the  other  fifty  pounds  to  be  paid  at  the 
end  of  the  second  year,  as  an  encouragement  towards  his  settling 
with  them  in  the  aforesaid  work- 


V32 


And  they  then  voted,  "  that  there  shall  be  allowed  and  paid  unto 
him,  the  said  Mr.  Lemuel  Briant,  fifty  pounds  per  year  in  bills  of 
credit  on  this  province  of  the  last  emission,  for  two  years  after  his 
first  settling  with  them  ;  and  at  the  end  of  two  years  there  shall  be 
an  addition  made  of  twelve  pounds  and  ten  shillings  in  bills  of  the 
like  emission,  or  in  other  bills  equivalent,  as  a  yearly  salary  during 
his  performing  the  work  of  the  ministry  among  them." 

It  appears,  by  an  entry  in  the  Church  Records,  that  at  a  meeting 
of  the  First  Church  in  Braintree,  held  Sept.  15,  1745,  it  was  voted, 
"  That  the  church  will  forego  the  privilege  of  preceding  the  other 
qualified  inhabitants  in  the  choice  of  their  minister  ;  and  will  join 
with  the  other  inhabitants  of  the  said  Precinct,  pursuant  to  a  war- 
rant made  out  for  assembling  them  on  the  16th  instant,  in  order  to 
the  choice  of  a  gospel  minister  to  settle  among  them." 

The  following  account  of  his  ordination,  in  Mr.  Briant's  hand- 
writing, is  taken  from  the  Church  Records.  "  Wednesday,  Dec. 
11th,  1745,  Lemuel  Briant  was  ordained  the  Pastor  of  the  1st 
Church  of  Christ  in  Braintree.  The  churches  sent  to  were,  The 
Church  at  Lexington.  The  2d  Church  in  Scituate.  The  2d  in 
Braintree.  The  1st  in  Hingham.  The  first  in  Scituate.  The 
Church  in  Milton.  The  1st  in  Stoughton.  The  Church  in  Dor- 
chester. The  1st  in  Weymouth.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Bourne  of  Scitu- 
ate began  with  prayer.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Eells  of  Scituate  preached 
from  2  Cor.  iv.  5.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Niles  of  Braintree  gave  the 
charge.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Taylor  of  Milton  the  right  hand  of  fellow- 
ship." 

It  has  been  said  that  Mr.  Briant  was  not  examined,  at  his  ordina- 
tion, as  to  his  Creed.* 

Mr.  Briant's  ministry  in  Braintree  was  comparatively  brief,  and 
his  peace  was  disturbed  by  a  religious  controversy  which,  as  we 
shall  presently  see,  was  occasioned  by  one  of  his  publications,  and 
which  raged  for  several  years.  Indeed  his  life  was  a  short  one. 
Oct.  22,  1753,  a  precinct  meeting  was  called,  one  object  of  which 
was;  "  To  take  into  serious  consideration  the  matter  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Briant's  petition,  bearing  date  Oct.  10,  1753,  inscribed  to  the 
North  Parish  in  Braintree  ;  more  especially  that  clause  in  the  peti- 

*  Bradford's  Biography  of  Dr.  Mayhew.  This  fact  is  stated  in  the  Report, 
made  by  a  committee  of  his  society,  which  will  be  noticed  in  the  proper 
place. 


133 


tion  which  earnestly  desires  that  you  will  make  way  for  the  settling 
a  minister,  by  dismissing  your  present  Pastor  from  the  burdens  and 
labors  of  his  office  ;  and  if  the  parish,  after  mature  consideration 
had  on  the  premises,  shall  think  it  advisable  and  that  it  will  be  for 
the  best,  (all  things  considered,)  both  for  the  parish  and  for  our 
Rev.  Pastor,  to  grant  him  a  dismission ;  or  if  otherwise  the  Parish 
shall  think  best  to  wait  patiently  some  time  longer,  to  see  if  it  may 
not  please  God  in  his  good  Providence  to  restore  our  Rev.  Pastor 
to  his  former  state  of  health." 

At  the  meeting,  John  Quincy,  Esq.  was  chosen  Moderator. 
"  Then  the  vote  was  put  whether  they  would  proceed  according  to 
the  warrant ;  it  passed  in  the  affirmative.  Then  the  vote  was  put 
whether  they  would  grant  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Briant  his  request  in  re- 
spect to  his  dismission,  and  it  passed  in  the  affirmative.  A  commit- 
tee was  chosen,  Edmund  Quincy,  Esq.,  Major  Joseph  Crosby,  Dea- 
con Parmenter,  Mr  Josiah  Quincy,  and  Deacon  Moses  Belcher,  to 
acquaint  the  Rev.  Mr.  Briant  with  the  proceedings  of  the  meeting, 
viz.  that  they  have  dismissed  him  from  his  ministerial  office  in  this 
place;  and  to  return  him  thanks  for  his  labors  in  the  ministry 
among  us."  * 

Mr.  Briant  did  not  long  survive  his  removal  from  this  place.  He 
died  the  following  year,  at  Hingrham,  according;  to  the  author  of  the 
Description  of  Scituate  in  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Collections. f 
His  will,  however,  I  have  found,  in  the  Suffolk  Probate  Records. 
It  is  dated  21st  of  August,  1754,  and  in  it  he  styles  himself  Lemuel 
Briant,  Gent,  of  Boston.  The  will  was  examined  and  proved  Oct. 
8,  1754.  Mr.  Briant  was  buried  at  Scituate,  his  native  place,  and 
the  Rev.  Mr.  May  of  that  town  has  been  kind  enough  to  procure 
for  me  the  following  inscription  from  his  grave  stone.  "  Here  lies 
interred,  the  body  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lemuel  Bryant,  who  departed 
this  life,  October  the  First,  1754.     Aged  32  years.  " 

In  the  interval  between  Mr.  Hancock's  death  and  Mr.  Briant's 
settlement  there  were  31  baptisms.  During  Mr.  Briant's  ministry, 
there  were  155  baptisms  and  60  admitted  to  the  church. 

Mr.  Briant  had  two  sons;  Lemuel,  born  July  16,  1749,  and  Jo- 
seph, born  Nov.  23,  1751. 

From  Mr.   Briant's  publications  one  would  be  justified  in  pro- 

*  North  Prec.  Records.  *  Hist.  Coll.    2d  series,  Vol.  IV. 


134 

nouncing  him  a  man  of  strong  native  abilities,  of  a  capacious  and 
vigorous  intellect.  He  was  a  bold  thinker,  and  fearless  and  inde- 
pendent in  his  judgment.  His  wit  was  pungent ;  he  had  consid- 
erable command  of  language  and  skill  in  the  management  of  an 
argument ;  and  he  was  capable  of  giving  forcible,  pointed,  and 
felicitous  expression  to  his  thoughts.  In  theological  speculations  he 
had  advanced  considerably  beyond  the  prevalent  opinions  of  his 
day,  and  was  one  among  that  small  but  honored  company  of  New 
England  divines,  who  had  been  able  to  extricate  their  minds  from 
the  dogmas  of  Calvin,  and  to  discover  and  appreciate  the  native 
worth  of  simple,  primitive  Christianity.  And  here  seems  to  be  a 
suitable  place  to  quote  from  the  letter  of  President  John  Adams  to 
Dr.  Morse,  which  has  been  so  frequently  published.  The  letter  is 
dated,  Quincy,  May  15,  1815. 

"  Dear  Doctor, 

"  I  thank  you  for  your  favor  of  the  10th,  and  the  pamphlet  en- 
closed, entitled,  '  American  Unitarianism.'  I  have  turned  over  its 
leaves,  and  found  nothing  that  was  not  familiarly  known  to  me.  In 
the  preface,  Unitarianism  is  represented  as  only  thirty  years  old  in 
New  England.  I  can  testify  as  a  witness  to  its  old  age.  Sixty-five 
years  ago,  my  own  minister,  the  Rev.  Lemuel  Bryant ;  Dr.  Jona- 
than Mayhew  of  the  West  Church  in  Boston  ;  the  Rev.  Mr.  Shute, 
of  Hingham  ;  the  Rev  John  Brown,  of  Cohasset ;  and  perhaps 
equal  to  all,  if  not  above  all,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gay,  of  Hingham,  were 
Unitarians.  Among  the  laity  how  many  could  I  name,  lawyers, 
physicians,  tradesmen,  farmers  !  But  at  present  I  will  name  only 
one,  Richard  Cranch,  a  man  who  had  studied  divinity,  and  Jewish 
and  Christian  antiquities,  more  than  any  clergyman  now  existing  in 
New  England." 

Some  account  of  the  controversy,  in  which  Mr  Briant  was  en- 
gaged with  neighboring  ministers,  may  be  expected  in  this  note. 

In  the  year  1749,  as  I  have  already  stated,  Mr.  Briant  published 
his  sermon  on  moral  virtue.  This  sermon  had  probably  been 
preached  in  various  places  in  the  course  of  the  author's  exchanges. 
We  know  that  it  was  preached  in  Scituate,  the  native  place  of  the 
writer.  Mr.  Dean,  in  his  History  of  that  town,  gives  the  follow- 
ing anecdote. 

"  Mr.  Lemuel   Bryant  of  Quincy,   (Braintree,)  who    had    gone 


135 

somewhat  before  the  age  in  liberal  speculations,  preached  for  him 
(Mr.  Eels  of  Scituate)  on  a  certain  day,  and  delivered  a  sermon, 
which  he  afterwards  printed,  on  the  text,  '  All  our  righteousnesses 
are  filthy  rags,'  and  explained  the  text  in  the  manner  which  would 
now  be  generally  acceptable,  showing  that  the  formalities  of  a  cor- 
rupt generation  of  the  Jews  were  therein  described,  and  not  the 
moral  virtues  of  true  worshippers,  which  led  Mr.  Eells  to  say, 
'  Alas  !  Sir,  you  have  undone  to-day,  all  that  I  have  been  doing 
for  forty  years,'  and  Bryant,  with  his  accustomed  wit  and  courtesy, 
replied,  '  Sir,  you  do  me  too  much  honor  in  saying,  that  I  could 
undo,  in  one  sermon,  the  labors  of  your  long  and  useful  life.'  An 
aged  and  highly  intelligent  gentleman,  who  related  this  anecdote  to 
us  twenty  years  since,  also  remarked,  that  Mr.  Eells  preached  a 
series  of  sermons  afterward,  with  a  view  to  correct  Mr.  Bryant's 
errors,  but  it  was  not  easy,  remarked  the  same  gentleman,  to  discern 
much  difference  between  his  doctrine  and  that  of  Mr  Bryant."  * 

Under  the  first  head  of  his  discourse  our  author  accumulates 
circumstances  to  show  the  great  degeneracy  into  which  the  Jew- 
ish people  had  sunk  ;  and  to  prove  that  "  the  drift  and  design  of  the 
Prophet's  discourse  is  not  to  depreciate  true  righteousness; — but 
to  convince  them  that  they  were  utterly  destitute  of  it,"  &c.  He 
finishes  his  picture  of  the  corruption  of  the  Prophet's  time  in  the 
following  striking  manner  :  "  I  will  only  add,  that  all  their  crying 
abominations  were  committed  among  them  under  the  greatest 
aggravations,  while  they  enjoyed  superior  advantages  of  excelling 
in  virtue  ;  while  they  had  the  constant  instructions  and  warnings  of 
God's  Prophets  to  the  contrary  ;  while  God,  by  a  variety  of  signal 
providences  both  merciful  and  afflictive,  endeavored  to  engage  them 
in  their  duty  and  obedience;  finally,  while  they  themselves  pretend- 
ed to  be  the  most  precise  people  under  heaven;  so  that  in  fact  they 
made  their  religion  a  cloak  for  their  immoralities,  and  imagined  all 
was  well,  that  they  were  very  pious  good  people,  though  they  lied, 
stole,  committed  adultery,  swore  falsely,  and  in  short,  in  common 
life  practised  all  manner  of  villainy,  so  long  as  they  could  say, 
(which  was  the  common  cant  of  the  times,)  The  Temple  of  the 
Lord,  the  Temple  of  the  Lord,  the  Temple  of  the  Lord  are  we" 

Under  the  second   head   of  discourse  Mr.   Briant   endeavors    to 

*  Dean's  History  of  Scituate,  p.  199. 


136 

prove  that  the  text  was  not  "  designed  to  be  a  just  character  of  the 
personal  righteousness  of  truly  good  and  holy  men." 

This  our  author  argues  from  "  the  nature,  use,  and  importance 
of  true  righteousness,  considered  as  the  image  of  God,  the  substance 
of  Christianity,  the  product  of  the  spirit,  the  ornament  of  great 
price  in  the  sight  of  God,  of  particular  and  universal  influence  on 
human  happiness,  in  their  present,  and  in  their  future  eternal  state," 
and  draws  the  inference  that  the  Scriptures  never  could  have  de- 
signed to  undervalue  this  righteousness. 

Under  the  third  head  of  discourse  Mr.  B.  points  out  "  some  of 
the  dangerous  consequences  of  admitting  this  sense  of  the  text ;  " 
thatall  such  attempts  to  depreciate  moral  virtue  will  "  minister  to 
the  growth  of  infidelity,  and  of  vice  among  professed  Christians,  and 
to  the  great  disquiet  of  sincere,  good  Christians,  who  are  the  proper 
heirs  of  comfort."  All  these  points  he  illustrates  in  his  peculiarly 
bold  and  impressive  style.  With  respect  to  the  influence  of  such  a 
doctrine  in  favoring  infidelity,  I  cannot  avoid  quoting  a  portion  of 
his  remarks. 

"  But  if  this  be  Revelation  and  Grace,  to  vilify  human  nature, 
and  disparage  all  our  improvements  in  those  divine  virtues  wherein 
essentially  consists  all  our  glory  and  felicity  ;  if  the  Scriptures  are 
used  to  affront  human  reason,  and  debauch  men's  manners,  and  the 
most  glorious  dispensation  of  the  Gospel  in  particular,  instead  of 
teaching  us  to  deny  ungodliness,  and  every  worldly  lust,  and  to  live 
soberly,  righteously,  charitably,  and  devoutly  in  this  present  world, 
be  conceived  of  only  as  a  scheme  calculated  to  allow  men  the  prac- 
tice of  their  vices  here,  with  impunity  hereafter ;  if  this  be  the 
liberty  and  peculiar  privilege  of  the  saints  to  be  discharged  from 
their  obligations  to  obey  their  master,  and  they'that  break  his  com- 
mandments stand  fairer  for  his  grace,  than  they  who  conscientiously 
keep  them,  for  fear  they  should  trust  to  what  they  do  ;  so  far,  I  say, 
as  any  take  their  conceptions  from- such  corruptions  of  Christianity, 
they  must  ncessarily  be  prejudiced  against  it.  Thunder  we  ever  so 
loud,  without  any  previous  lightning,  '  He  that  believeth  not  shall 
be  damned,'  it  will  signify  nothing,  for  they  will  be  damned  before 
they  will  believe." 

Such  is  an  imperfect  analysis  of  this  remarkable  Sermon  :  —  re- 
markable it  deserves  to  be  called  on  several  accounts  ;  for  its  intrinsic 
excellences,  for  the  clear  thinking,  the  freedom  from  mistiness,  preju- 


137 

dice,  and  cant,  the  perfect  independence  of  mind,  the  strength  and 
pungency  of  style,  which  it  displays.  But  it  was  not  suited  to  find 
much  popular  favor  at  that  day,  and  must  wait  many  years  before 
the  sentiments  it  advocated  should  be  in  harmony  with  the  public 
mind.  The  distinctness  with  which  it  stated  the  opinions  of  its 
author,  and  exposed  the  absurdities  into  which  the  popular  creed 
had  run,  startled  those  who  had  quietly  settled  themselves  with  the 
conviction  that  Calvinism  was  something  very  good,  without  ever 
having  examined  thoroughly  what  it  was,  or  what  it  led  to. 

Mr.  Briant  was  replied  to  by  several  ministers.  The  Rev.  Sam- 
uel Niles,  at  that  time  Pastor  of  the  Second  Church  in  Braintree, 
published  a  Sermon  entitled  ;  "  A  Vindication  of  divers  important 
Gospel  Doctrines,  and  of  the  Teachers  and  Professors  of  them 
against  the  injurious  reflections  and  misrepresentations  contained  in 
a  late  printed  Discourse  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Lemuel  Briant's,  Entitled, 
&c,  by  Samuel  Niles,  Pastor  of  a  Church  in  Braintree." 

The  copy  I  have  seen  is  without  date,*  but  was  probably  delivered 
and  printed  soon  after  Mr.  Briant's  Sermon  appeared.  But  Mr. 
Briant's  chief  opponent  was  Mr.  Porter,  who  was  a  minister  in 
Bridgewater.  "  He  died,"  says  Allen  in  his  Biographical  Diction- 
ary, "in  the  hope  of  the  Christian,  March  12,  1802,  in  the  87th 
year  of  his  age,  and  the  62d  of  his  ministry,  having  been  enabled  to 
preach  till  near  the  close  of  his  life.  He  was  a  man  of  respectable 
talents,  of  great  prudence,  and  of  a  blameless  life."  —  In  1750  he 
published  a  Sermon  entitled,  "  The  absurdity  and  blasphemy  of 
substituting  the  personal  righteousness  of  men  in  the  room  of  the 
surety-righteousness  of  Christ,  in  the  important  article  of  Justifica- 
tion before  God.  A  Sermon  preached  at  the  South  Precinct  in 
Braintree,  Dec.  25,  1749.  By  John  Porter  A.  M.,  Pastor  of  the 
4th  Church  of  Christ  in  Bridgewater."  —  He  took  for  his  text  the 
same  passage  of  Scripture  that  Mr.  Briant  had  discoursed  from, 
and  doubtless  intended  a  refutation  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Pastor  of 
the  First  Church  in  this  town.  This  Sermon  is  the  production  of 
a  mind  strongly  and  apparently  with  sincerity  attached  to  the  sys- 
tem of  Calvin,  but  narrow  in  the  compass  of  its  thoughts,  and  far 
inferior  to  the  mind  of  his  opponent.  Mr.  Porter  undertakes  to  in- 
terpret the  text  as  meant  by  the  Prophet  to  be  applied   to  the  rio-ht- 

*  Allen's  Biography  says  it  was  published  in  1752. 

18 


138 

eousness  of  the  very  best  men,  and  consequently  including  the 
Prophet  himself  and  his  own  character.  He  adduces  three  argu- 
ments for  this  interpretation.  1st.  He  asserts  that  the  word  right- 
eousness is  never,  in  the  Scriptures,  used  to  designate  the  hypocrit- 
ical performances  of  bad  men,  but  uniformly  applied  to  good  acts. 
Secondly,  the  word  all  makes  the  assertion  of  the  text  universal. 
And  thirdly,  the  word  our  in  the  text  strengthens,  in  the  author's 
apprehension,  his  second  argument,  and  shows  that  the  Prophet  in- 
cludes himself  in  the  declaration.  With  a  person  who  had  no 
greater  expansion  of  mind  than  to  make  such  interpretations  of 
Scripture  as  these,  it  would  seem  there  could  be  but  little  room 
for  serious  argument. 

In  1750,  Mr.  Briant  published  a  Letter  entitled,  "Some  friendly 
remarks  on  a  Sermon  lately  preached  at  Braintree,  3d  Parish,  and 
now  published  to  the  world,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Porter  of  Bridgewater ; 
from  those  words  in  Isaiah  64.  6,  &c.  in  a  letter  to  the  author,  to  be 
communicated  to  his  attestators,  by  Lemuel  Briant."  At  the  con- 
clusion of  Mr.  Porter's  Sermon  there  had  been  added  an  "  attesta- 
tion," as  it  was  called,  signed  by  five  brother  clergymen,  who  were, 
doubtless,  orthodox  after  the  straitest  sect,  in  which  they  express 
their  entire  agreement  with  the  sentiments  of  Mr.  Porter,  and  la- 
ment the  "  dreadful  increase  of  Arminianism  and  other  errors  in  the 
land,  among  ministers  and  people."  Mr.  Briant,  in  his  Letter  as- 
sumes and  maintains  throughout  a  strain  of  raillery  which  must 
have  been  annoying  to  his  adversaries  who  felt  its  keen  edge,  and 
which  provoked  them  to  charge  him,  in  reply,  with  trifling  with  the 
subject.  For  this  charge  there  was  no  foundation  in  what  he  had 
written.  He  was  playing  with  them  and  with  their  argument, 
which  must  have  seemed  to  him  trifling  in  the  extreme.  But  a 
bigoted  man  will  always  be  prone  to  identify  his  opinions  so  closely 
with  religion  itself,  that  what  is  aimed  only  at  him  is  easily  referred 
by  him  to  the  subject,  and  his  opponent  forthwith  is  set  down  as  a 
trifler  and  blasphemer. 

"It  must  be  acknowledged,"  says  Mr.  Briant,  in  the  course  of  his 
Letter,  "  with  all  gratitude,  that  there  has  of  late  years  been  a  re- 
markable out-pouring  of  the  good  old  Bercan  spirit ;  and  the  perils, 
that  in  times  of  ingorance  and  implicit  believing  have  attended  free- 
dom and  plainness  of  speech,  (which  is  an  essential  branch  of  that 
holiness  that  becomes  God's  house  forever,)  are  very   considerably 


139 

abated."  It  may  aid  us  in  understanding  the  meaning  of  this  pas- 
sage, if  we  bear  in  mind  who  were  the  ministers  at  that  day  of  the 
neighboring  churches,  Dr.  Gay  and  Dr.  Shute  of  Hingham,  Mr. 
Eells  of  Scituate,  were  all  anti-Calvinistic,  and  Dr.  Mayhew  of 
West  Church,  Boston,  anti-Trinitarian,  one  of  the  boldest  and 
most  candid  advocates  of  a  liberal  and  rational  theology.  With  these 
men  Mr.  Briant  associated;  and  although  he  was,  both  from  nature 
and  choice,  less  prudent  than  some  of  them,  yet  they  could  not  fail 
to  sympathize  with  him  in  the  views  he  advanced. 

Mr.  Briant  rallies  his  opponent  upon  his  differing  from  Calvin, 
his  great  master,  in  his  interpretation  of  the  text.  He  quotes  Cal- 
vin's Commentary  on  the  passage,  giving  the  original  Latin,  and  an 
English  version  of  his  own,  and  teases  him  with  a  variety  of  ironi- 
cal explanations  of  this  oversight,  concluding  with  saying  :  "  And 
then  again,  to  be  honest  with  you,  I  confess  I  have  not  sometimes 
been  without  my  doubts  whether  or  no  the  language  in  which  Cal- 
vin wrote  might  not  a  little  startle  you.  There  being  some  in  all 
ages,  like  those  in  Dr.  South's,  who,  he  says,  always  looked  upon 
Latin  to  be  the  language  of  the  Beast." —  "  Alas  !  alas  !  that  one 
of  his  youngest  children  should  rise  up  at  this  day  against  him,  and 
find  so  many  elder  brethren  to  countenance,  attest,  and  support  this 
his  disobedience  and  rebellion  against  him ;  that  the  cause  of  good 
old  Mr.  Calvin  should  be  so  wounded  in  the  house  of  so  many  of 
his  best  friends  "  —  He  concludes  thus  ;  "  Dear  Sir,  I  presume  not 
to  subscribe  myself  (according  to  old  style)  your  brother  in  the 
faith  and  fellowship  of  the  Gospel  ;  for  fear  you  should  imagine  I 
have  not  faith  enough  for  any  fellowship.  But  you  will  allow  me,  I 
trust,  the  privilege  of  a  Heathen  (if  sound  and  serious)  to  declare 
that  I  am  your  fellow  creature  and  hearty  well-wisher, 

"  Lemuel  Briant. 

"  Braintree,  May  22,  1750." 

After  an  interval  of  some  time,  Mr.  Porter  appeared  before  the 
public,  to  vindicate  his  Sermon,  and  to  answer  Mr.  Briant's  Letter. 
There  was  added  to  Mr.  Porter's  Letter  "  an  Appendix  by  one  of  the 
attestators,"  longer  than  the  Letter  itself.  The  Appendix  is  sub- 
scribed by  John  Cotton,  Halifax. 

The  chief  object  of  Mr.  Porter  and  Mr.  Cotton,  in  the  Letter  and 
Appendix,  seems  to  be,  to  draw  off  Mr.  Briant's  attention  from  the 
single  point  of  controversy  between  them,  namely,  that  which  had 


140 

been  suggested  by  Mr.  Briant's  Sermon,  and  by  charging  him  with 
being  heterodox  on  all  the  chief  doctrines  of  the  Calvinistic  creed, 
to  render  him  an  object  of  popular  distrust.  They  especially  dwell 
long  upon  what  they  call  the  prevarication  of  Mr.  Briant,  in  saying, 
that  the  only  point  in  dispute  between  him  and  his  opponents  was 
in  regard  to  the  interpretation  of  the  particular  text  which  he  takes 
for  his  Sermon;  and  the  appendix  particularly  is  a  labored  en- 
deavor to  show  that  Mr.  Briant  is  unsound  and  Arminian  in  his 
notions  upon  all  the  main  doctrines  of  Christianity.  Mr.  Foxcroft, 
whom  Mr.  Briant  had  designated  harshly  "  as  a  verbose,  dark,  Jes- 
uitical writer,"  added  a  note  to  the  appendix,  in  which  he  charges 
Briant  with  being  not  merely  Arminian,  but  Socinian  ;  and  states 
his  reasons  in  the  shape  of  inferences  drawn  from  his  writings. 
There  was  much  in  the  tone  assumed  by  these  three  writers  calcu- 
lated to  excite  a  just  indignation  on  the  part  of  him  whom  they  at- 
tacked. He  replied  to  them  in  a  piece  dated,  Braintree,  April  15, 
1751,  and  entitled,  "  Some  more  friendly  remarks  on  Mr.  Porter 
and  Company.  Tn  a  second  Letter  to  him  and  two  of  his  abettors, 
namely,  Mr.  Cotton,  appendix  writer,  and  Mr.  F-xcr-ft,  marginal 
noter.  Wherein  the  persons,  sentiments,  and  arguments  of  the 
Triumvirate  are  treated  with  the  utmost  deference  that  truth  and 
faithfulness  could  possibly  admit  of."  This  Letter  is  remarkable 
for  clear  thinking  and  vigorous  diction,  for  pointed  wit  and  pungent 
satire,  for  controversial  adroitness,  and  close  logic.  He  confines  him- 
self, in  this  reply,  to  showing  that  the  inferences  which  his  oppo- 
nents had  made  respecting  his  opinions,  so  far  as  they  were  drawn 
from  his  Sermon,  (and  this  he  contended  was  the  subject-matter  of 
dispute  between  them,)  were  wholly  unauthorized  and  gratuitous; 
and  this  he  does  so  fully  as  to  leave  them  in  the  unenviable  predic- 
ament of  having  brought  charges  against  him  upon  no  better  ground 
than  conjecture  and  suspicion. 

There  were  some  members  of  Mr.  Briant's  Parish  and  Church 
that  were  much  disturbed  by  his  liberal  views  of  Theology,  al- 
though there  can  be  no  doubt  that  "the  body  of  the  church  and 
people  "*  accorded  perfectly  with  their  Pastor.  Yet  the  minority 
were  not  content,  until  they  had  called  an  Ecclesiastical  Council 
consisting  of  seven  Churches,  namely,  The  old  South  Church  in 
Boston,  the  Second  Church  in  Braintree,  the  two  Churches  in  Wey- 

*  These  words  used  in  the  Report  of  Proceedings  of  Council. 


141 

mouth,  the  First  Church  in  Stoughton,  the  Second  Church  in 
Bridgewater,  and  the  Church  in  Hanover.  The  Council  met  again, 
by  adjournment,  Jan.  9,  1753.  Mr.  Briant  still  declining,  as  he  had 
done  previously,  to  acknowledge  their  authority,  or  to  be  present  at 
their  sessions.  There  were  eight  subjects  of  complaint  against  him. 
The  first  related  to  his  Sermon  on  Moral  Virtue,  which  they  pro- 
nounced just  cause  of  offence  to  the  aggrieved  party,  that  is,  the  mi- 
nority of  the  First  Church.  The  second  complaint  related  to  Mr. 
Briant's  absenting  himself,  as  was  alleged,  from  public  fasts.  The 
third  complaint  was,  that  Mr.  Briant  took  no  proper  measures  to 
clear  himself  of  several  scandalous  sins  charged  upon  him.  The 
fourth  ground  of  complaint  was,  that  Mr.  Briant  disclaimed  and  re- 
nounced the  Assembly's  Catechism,  and  substituted  another  (Mr. 
Pierce's)  in  its  stead.  The  fifth  related  to  Mr.  Briant's  "  recom- 
mending Mr.  John  Taylor's  Book  to  the  prayerful  perusal  of  some 
of  his  brethren."  The  sixth  was  connected  with  the  suspension  of 
a  member  of  Mr.  Briant's  Church.  The  seventh  and  eighth  articles 
related  to  Mr.  Briant's  alleged  refusal  to  call  a  church  meeting,  at 
the  request  of  the  aggrieved  brethren,  and  to  the  Church's  easy 
concurrence  with  their  Pastor  in  what  were  called  his  errors,  par- 
ticularly in  laying  aside  the  Assembly's  Catechism. 

In  their  printed  Report,  a  copy  of  which  is  before  me,  the  ex 
parte  Council  pronounced  the  several  complaints,  recited  above,  to 
have  some  foundation  ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  they  express  the  opin- 
ion, that  the  "  aggrieved  brethren  "  of  the  Church  had  gone  too  far 
in  their  high  charges  against  the  majority  of  the  Church.  They 
conclude  their  Report  with  "  their  best  advices"  to  the  two  parties. 

This  Council  effected  as  much  as  Councils  ever  effect,  that  is, 
nothing  at  all,  except  it  may  be,  to  increase  the  difficulty  in  which 
they  intermeddled.  One  of  the  articles,  it  will  be  observed,  con- 
sisted, not  indeed  of  direct  charges  against  Mr.  Briant's  moral  char- 
acter, but  of  a  complaint  that  he  did  not  take  sufficient  pains  to 
clear  himself  of  charges  which  had  been  brought  against  him.  The 
charges  that  were  made  against  him  are  doubtless  to  be  ascribed  in 
part  to  that  bigotry  which,  as  is  well  known,  is  too  apt  to  refer  any 
deviations  from  the  popular  standard  of  religious  opinions,  to  de- 
pravity of  heart  and  life,  and  in  part  to  Mr.  Briant's  eccentricities, 
and  his  defiance  of  public  sentiment  in  his  bold  publication  of  his 
theological  views. 


142 

The  charges  that  were  brought  against,  their  Pastor,  in  the  Report 
of  the  Council,  were  deemed  worthy  of  notice  by  the  Church;  and 
they  appointed  a  Committee,  in  March,  1753,  whose  duty  it  should 
be  "to  inquire  into  the  grounds  of  those  slanderous  reports  that 
had  been  spread  abroad,  respecting  themselves,  and  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Lemuel  Briant,  their  Pastor."  The  Report,  made  by  this  Com- 
mittee, I  have  seen.  It  is  signed  by  J.  Quincy,  Joseph  Crosby, 
Moses  Belcher,  Edm.  Quincy,  John  Bass,  Moses  Belcher,  Joseph 
Neal,  J.  Palmer,  Richard  Brackett,  and  is  dated,  Braintree  April  14, 
1753.  This  Report  is  drawn  up  with  ability,  and  expressed  in 
temperate  but  firm  language.  It  justifies  the  Pastor  in  the  course 
he  had  taken  with  respect  to  Church  discipline,  and  his  refusing  to 
acknowledge,  in  any  way,  the  Council.  It  denies  the  truth  of  the 
charge  brought  against  Mr.  Briant  of  a  neglect  of  fasts.  The  fol- 
lowing extract  from  the  concluding  portion  of  this  Report  will  be 
read  by  many,  with  interest,  as  embodying  a  spirit  of  freedom  and 
liberality  worthy  of  Protestants  and  Christians. 

"  Third.  As  the  several  scandalous  immoralities,  charged  upon 
Mr.  Briant,  have  never  been  proved  in  any  one  instance,  so  the 
Church  ought  to  adhere  to  their  vote  relating  to  this  case,  and  all 
the  world  besides,  until  they  know  better,  ought  to  be  in  perfect 
charity  with  him. 

"  Fourth.  Though  Mr.  Briant  has  too  much  neglected  catechis- 
ing,  yet  he  is  now  ready  (as  soon  as  his  health  permits)  to  teach 
our  children  such  parts  of  the  catechism  as  he  apprehends  agreeable 
to  the  Scriptures.  Nor  can  we  think  that  any  Christian  Society 
ought  to  be  so  attached  to  any  human  composure,  as  to  make  it  a 
crime  in  their  Pastor  to  prefer  pure  Scripture  instruction  to  it. 

"  That  we  have  no  evidence  of  Mr.  Briant's  having  made  any 
particular  profession  of  his  faith  at  his  ordination,  or  that  any  such 
thing  was  required  of  him  by  the  Council  then  present;  or  if  he  had 
made  any  such  profession,  it  could  not  destroy  his  right  of  private 
judgment,  nor  be  obligatory  upon  him,  any  further  than  it  continued 
to  appear  to  him  agreeable  to  reason  and  Scripture. 

u  And  fifth.  That  our  Rev.  Pastor's  recommending  Mr.  John 
Taylor's  book  to  the  prayerful  perusal  of  one  or  more  of  his  Par- 
ishoners,  upon  supposition  of  its  being  erroneous,  was  worthy  a 
Protestant  minister ;  and  we  cannot  but  commend  our  Pastor  for 
the  pains  he  takes  to  promote  a  free  and  impartial  examination  into 


143 

all  articles  of  our  holy  religion,  so  that  all  may  judge,  even  of  them- 
selves, what  is  right. 

"As  to  the  supposed  doctrinal  errors  charged  upon  Mr.  Briant,  we 
shall  not  presume  to  condemn  him,  although  he  may  differ  from 
some  of  us;  because,  as  he  has  an  undoubted  right  to  judge  for 
himself,  so  we  do  not  apprehend  the  difference  in  opinion  between 
him  and  any  of  this  Society  so  great,  as  to  justify  any  breach  or 
schism  in  the  Church,  or  to  cause  any  uncharitable  censures  from 
men  of  a  Christian  disposition. 

"  We  have  made  our  above  Report  according  to  the  best  evi- 
dences we  have  been  able  to  collect.  We  hope  none  will  hereafter 
charge  us  with  vindicating  our  Pastor,  or  any  one  else,  in  immoral 
practices,  or  in  contemning  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  Chris- 
tian Religion  ;  for  we  not  only  profess  the  most  religious  regard  for 
the  sacred  Scriptures,  but  also  for  the  practice  of  virtue;  and  we 
hope  that  the  aggrieved  will,  each  one  for  himself  in  particular, 
consider  whether  his  conduct,  towards  this  Society,  and  their  Pas- 
tor, has  been  such  as  became  the  Gospel  of  peace,  and  thereupon 
repent  and  amend  in  every  instance  wherein  he  finds  himself  to 
have  erred;  and  that  we  may  all  sit  down  together  in  peace  and 
charity,  and  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in  truth." 


R.     Page  55. 


Mr.  Anthony  Wibird,  the  seventh  minister  of  the  Church,  was  a 
native  of  Portsmouth,  N.  H.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, in  the  year  1747.  He  was  chosen,  Oct.  8,  1754,  by  a  unan- 
imous vote,  Pastor  of  the  Braintree  First  Church.  At  first  it  was 
voted  that  he  should  receive  a  settlement  of  =£133  (is.  Sd.  lawful 
money,  and  £80  yearly  salary.  He  declined  the  invitation;  but  be- 
ing requested  to  reconsider  the  matter,  he  accepted  the  offer  finally 
made  him,  which  was,  that  he  should  receive  =£100  salary  and  no 
settlement.  The  following  account  of  Mr.  Wibird's  ordination  is 
in  the  Church  Records,  in  his  own  hand-writing. 

"Wednesday,  February  the  fifth,  J 755,  Anthony  Wibird  was  or- 
dained Pastor   of  the   1st  Church  of   Christ  in  Braintree.     The 


144 

Churches  sent  to,  were  the  2d  and  3d  Churches  in  said  Town,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Niles  pastor  of  the  2d,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Taft  pastor  of  the 
3d  ;  to  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Sewall  and  Prince  of  Boston;  to  the  1st 
Church  in  Cambridge,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Appleton  pastor  ;  to  the  1st 
Church  in  Portsmouth,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Langdon  pastor  ;  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Bowman  pastor  of  the  Church  in  Dorchester  ;  the  Rev.  Mr.  Rob- 
bins,  pastor  of  the  Church  in  Milton;  the  Rev.  Mr.  Smith  of  Wey- 
mouth ;  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gay  of  Hingham  ;  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dunbar 
pastor  of  a  Church  in  Stoughton.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Langdon  began 
with  prayer.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Appleton  preached  from  those  words 
in  the  10th  Levit.  3d.  I  will  be  sanctified  in  them  that  come  nigh 
me,  and  before  all  the  people  I  will  be  glorified.  The  Rev.  Mr. 
Gay  gave  the  charge.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Dunbar  the  right  hand  of 
fellowship." 

In  the  interval  between  Mr.  Briant's  dismission  and  Mr.  Wibird's 
settlement,  there  were  seventeen  Baptisms.  During  Mr.  Wibird's 
ministry  there  were  781  Baptisms,  and  221  were  admitted  to  full 
communion. 

"For  many  years  previous  to  his  death  he  was  unable,  from  bod- 
ily infirmities,  to  attend  upon  the  duties  of  his  office."  #  The 
present  Senior  Pastor  of  the  Church,  Rev.  Peter  Whitney,  was  set- 
tled as  colleague  with  him,  Feb.  5,  1800.  Mr.  Wibird  died,  June  4, 
1800,  in  the  46th  year  of  his  ministry,  and  his  remains  lie  in  the 
same  tomb  with  Mr.  Hancock ;  but  there  is  no  inscription  to  his 
memory.  [In  the  Church  Records  is  the  following  notice  of  the  event. 

"Died  June  4,  Rev.  Anthony  Wibird,  Senior  Pastor. of  the  Con- 
gregational Church  in  Quincy,  aged  72.  His  funeral  was  attended 
on  the  7th,  when  the  Rev.  Mr.  Williams  of  Weymouth  made  the 
prayer,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Weld  of  Braiutree  preached,  from  those 
words  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  '  I  have  finished  my  course.'  " 

During  Mr.  Wibird's  ministry  the  North  Precinct  of  Braintree 
was  made  a  separate  town.  The  subject  of  dividing  the  Town  had 
been  considered  many  years  before  it  took  place.  In  the  North 
Precinct  Records  I  find  the  following  : 

"  Feb.  9,  1756.  Voted,  that  it  was  their  mind  to  be  separate 
from  the  other  two  Precincts  in  Braintree. 

"  Voted,  that  it  was  their  mind  that  the  town  of  Braintree  should 
be  divided  into  two  townships." 

*  Whitney's  History  of  Quincy. 


145 

A  Committee  was  chosen  at  the  same  time,  to  consider  this  mat- 
ter, namely,  Hon.  John  Quincy  Esq.,  Mr.  Josiah  Quincy,  Major 
Joseph  Crosby.  After  this  we  find  no  further  notice  of  the  subject 
till  1792,  when  what  was  once  the  North  Precinct  of  Braintree  be- 
came incorporated  as  a  distinct  town,  by  the  name  of  duincy. 
"  Rev.  Anthony  Wibird  was  requested  to  give  a  name  to  the  place. 
But  he  refusing,  a  similar  request  was  made  to  the  Hon.  Richard 
Cranch,  who  recommended  its  being  called  Quincy,  in  honor  of 
Col.  John  Quincy,  who  had  been  the  owner  of  the  Mt.  Wollaston 
farm,  which  had  given  the  first  civilized  name  to  the  place."  * 

Mr.  Wibird  was  never  married.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  man  of 
some  singularities.  He  never  published  anything  that  I  can  dis- 
cover. He  is  said  to  have  possessed  considerable  literary  taste,  and 
to  have  read  poetry  with  fine  expression. 

Since  writing  the  above,  I  am  informed  by  Lemuel  Brackett  Esq., 
that  it  is  his  impression,  that  Mr.  Wibird  preached  an  Election 
Sermon,  which  was  thought  highly  of  at  the  time  it  was  delivered. 
Mr.  Brackett  also  states  that  Mr.  Wibird  took  pains  in  learning  a 
method  of  short  hand-writing  ;  so  that  his  manuscripts,  could  any 
have  been  procured,  would  probably  have  been  illegible  and  useless. 


S.     Page  55. 


Rev.  Peter  Whitney,  the  eighth  minister  of  the  First  Congre- 
gational Church  in  Quincy,  (formerly  Braintree,)  was  a  native  of 
Northborouffh,  Mass.,  where  his  father  was  a  settled  minister  many 
years.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  1791,  and  having 
kept  school  in  Hingham  some  time,  was  settled  in  the  ministry  in 
this  town,  Feb.  5,  1800.  The  services  at  his  ordination  were  per- 
formed by  the  following  clergymen  :  Introductory  prayer,  by  the 
Rev.  Prof.  Ware  of  Cambridge,  then  minister  of  Hingham ;  Ser- 
mon, by  Rev.  Mr.  Whitney  of  Northborough;  Ordaining  prayer  by 
Rev.  Dr.   Fiske  of  West  Cambridge  ;    Charge  by  Rev.    Mr.  Cum- 

*  See  Whitney's  History  of  Quincy. 

19 


146 

mings,  of  Billerica ;  Right  hand  of  fellowship  by  Rev.  Mr.  McKean 
of  Milton ;  Concluding  prayer  by  Rev.  Mr.  Harris  of  Dorchester. 

Mr.  Whitney  has  published  the  following  sermons,  viz. 

Sermon  at  the  Ordination  of  Perez  Lincoln  at  Gloucester  in  1805. 
Sermon  on  the  Death  of  Richard  and  Mary  Cranch  in  1811.  A 
Fast  Sermon  in  1812.  Sermon  on  the  Death  of  Mrs.  Abigail  Ad- 
ams in  1818.  Sermon  on  the  Death  of  President  John  Adams,  1826. 
And  a  New  Year's  Discourse  in  1837. 

In  1835,  June  3d,  the  present  writer  was  installed.  The  ser- 
vices at  his  installation  were  conducted  as  follows,  viz. 

Introductory  prayer  and  selections  from  the  Scriptures  were  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Whitney  of  West  Roxbury ;  Sermon  by  Rev.  Mr.  Froth- 
ingham  of  the  First  Church,  Boston  ;  Prayer  of  installation  by 
Rev.  Peter  Whitney  of  Quincy  ;  Charge  by  Rev.  Dr.  Parkman  of 
Boston;  Right  hand  of  fellowship  by  Rev.  Mr.  Cunningham  of  Dor- 
chester ;  Address  to  the  society  by  Rev.  Mr.  Gannett  of  Boston ; 
and  Concluding  prayer  by  Rev.  Mr.  Huntoon  of  Milton. 


T.     Pages  7,  36,  37,  57. 

The  four  wood  cuts  contained  in  this  pamphlet  represent  objects 
directly  associated  with  the  early  history  of  our  church.  They  are 
from  drawings  made  by  Mr.  George  W.  Beale,  Jr. 

The  first  in  order  is  the  oldest  of  the  communion  vessels,  having 
the  following  inscription  :  "  Joanna  Yorke  1685.   B.  C." 

The  second  is  the  vane  that  belonged  to  the  old  stone  meeting 
house,  that  stood  near  the  ground  occupied  at  present  by  the  Sec- 
ond Congregational  Church.  It  will  be  observed  that  it  bears  date 
1666.  It  now  stands  opposite  the  mansion-house  of  Hon.  John 
Quincy  Adams,  where  it  was  placed  by  his  father,  President  John 
Adams,  a  few  years  before  his  death. 

The  third  is  a  sketch  of  the  hill,  belonging  to  the  farm  of  Hon. 
Mr.  Adams,  which  gave  the  original  name  to  this  plantation,  before  it 
became  a  town.     The  hill  still  bears  the  name  of  Mount  Wollaston. 


147 

The  fourth  represents  the  gravestones,  still  standing  in  our  burial- 
place,  of  the  first  Pastor  and  Teacher  of  Braintree  Church.  The 
one  to  the  left,  Mr.  Tompson's  is,  I  presume,  the  original  stone. 
The  other  is  probably  modern.  Mr.  Hancock  has  the  following 
note  to  one  of  his  Century  Discourses.  "Mr  Flynt's  monument  is 
still  to  be  seen,  though  much  gone  to  decay,  but  I  hope  to  see  the 
tomb  of  the  prophet  rebuilt."  What  Mr.  Hancock  suggested  was, 
most  likely,  done  soon  after. 

I  will  venture  to  express  the  hope  that  the  monument  that  covers 
the  remains  of  Mr.  Fiske,  Mr.  Marsh,  Mr.  Hancock,  and  Mr.  Wi- 
bird  may  be  rebuilt. 


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